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[u][i]Progress Diary of Subject "Oddclaw" - Week 192[/i][/u]

[i]19-02-2032[/i]

[i]Observed by Dr. Jane Addison[/i]

[i]Recently Oddclaw has developed a much closer friendship with Jeremy since our Christmas party. Besides teaching him about our modern culture, he has also been educating him on the use of stronger weaponry like that of his shotgun to help strengthen him and understand control and recoil. It's wonderful how the two connect on their issues of being apart from the rest of us in terms of history and background. I had always hoped they would, and I think that this will help him settle in much more easily now that he has someone to relate with.[/i]

[i]Oddclaw also continues to read from our library having bonded well with Ms. Kerkorian, further advancing his comprehension at an exceptional rate. He still has problems with tense, but these are minor compared to how much his vocabulary has grown.[/i]

[i]I want to make him feel welcome here, as an equal and not some pet, that is why I contested for his right to be my assistant just as Brightman had Jeremy become his. In a way I shouldn't be surprised at how the two have bonded, I don't know what sort of things they get up to but Oddclaw has become very happy when around him.[/i]

[i]"A-AAAAH! AAAAAAH!"[/i]

"Rydych yn hoffi eich bod yn ceiliog butain?"

[i]"H-H-HAAAH!"[/i]

"Nnnnngh, dyna fachgen da, tynhau y cont i mi."

Hearing the words of Welsh pour into his ears from a snarling throat, Oddclaw shivered from a deep submissive want as Jeremy ravaged his ass with beastly aggression, pumping his meaty pale cock inside of him as he rammed the whimpering beast against the sheets of his bed. Jeremy laid on top of him, ruthlessly pounding the scaled hole with one arm wrapped round his tail and the other squeezing Oddclaw's shoulder with possessive intent and unspoken mutual trust. The raptor clawed at the mattress weakly, scrunching the bed covers in his hands as he squinted his eyes from a lustful bliss of the human veteran driving deep into his rear with the smacking of raw hairy skin against pebble-smooth scale.

The two understood their limits, after two months of frequent buggery to stave off their frustrations which for Jeremy had been a long time coming. Oddclaw was relieved and had gladly accepted the offer to let Holt fuck him as a friend and dominant. It was difficult to describe this but in his tribe there was a mutual understanding of those above and below him which could purely change by the strength of musk and authority. Jeremy understood quickly and with respect for his friend, the human reamed him with monstrous lust that the creature had long missed the feeling of. Were Oddclaw able to understand Jeremy's mother tongue, this was what he would have heard.

[i]"I'll fuck you so hard your mother's gonna feel it in her cunt."[/i]

[i]"A-AAAH, YES!"[/i]

[i]"You dirty little queer sod, you can't even think without my cock in your arse can't you?"[/i]

[i]"H-H-HAAAH! BREED ME! F-FILL ME PLEASE I-I NEED YOUR HAIRLESS SEED!"[/i]

The fact that nobody else in the base spoke Welsh or Raptor meant that no one would even think what they were doing in there. For all they knew they were just having a pleasant chat trying to teach other their own languages, rather than Oddclaw begging to be used and Jeremy pouring the filthiest words inside the raptor's ear and reducing him to a fucked sow. They never knew what the other said during these sessions, but that only made it much more fun personally for each of them to release their needs. They could vent, they could curse, they could befoul each other and never have to fear for any offence or hurt except to their own selves and limitations.

[i]"I-I-i need you...please, m-make me stink of your hairless seed, make me-"[/i]

[i]"SHUT YER FUCKING FACE!"[/i]

Jeremy's brythonic voice roared against his cheek as he grabbed Oddclaw's throat whilst brimming with male dominance.

[i]"I will tell you when to beg you little [b]BITCH![/b]"[/i]

[i]"Y-y-yes, p-please I am sorry, I am sorry I want your seed inside me!"[/i]

[i]"You know what you are? A real man's whore that's only good for one thing. To be my little cock wife. I, will breed you, like the FUCKING SOW YOU ARE until you're nothing but a fat bitch sucking my cock's milk from both ends."[/i]

Gripping the raptor's shoulder he flipped him onto his back still impaled on his cock before wrapping his arms round both of his legs and held them up to slam down like a hammer into Oddclaw's ass. Clawed feet with wicked black scythes spasmed and twitched with his whimpering howl, his throbbing cock of 10 full inches smearing pre all over his belly as Holt pummelled him fast, balls smacking hard enough to sting against the raptor's tailbase causing to moan little mewling chirrs that drove Jeremy wild with desire. He couldn't believe how hard he was getting off on dominating a half-feral beast, as his mind crept into a new level of lust he never thought even possible. He spoke in English briefly as he panted a few feet from the raptor's face:

"Look at me you little bastard, look at me."

"H-h-huh?"

"Repeat...after me...look at me, look at mah lips. Rwyf, mochyn bach...budr."

"R-r-r...rruuiiii...mokhhin bakhh...bueh-drr."

"S-say it...again."

"R-ruuiii m-mokhhin bakhh, bueh-drr."

"Again!"

"Ruuiii, mokhhin bakhh, buh-drr!"

"SAY IT LOUD LAD, LET'S HEAR YA SAY IT!"

"A-AAAAH AAAAH! R-RUUIII MOKHHIN BAKHH, B-BUEH-DRR!"

"NNNNGH DUW, ffffwwwwc, hohhh ffwc! FFWC! [b]FFWC, GHHHHRRRAAAAGH![/b]"

That little phrase drove him over the edge as he finally spurted his thick load deep into his friend's beastly rear, flexing muscles of scale glistening beneath the lights of the room as Oddclaw managed to throb into a seepening climax upon himself, crying feebly with a braying moan as he drenched his neck and pectorals with hot clear sticky seed. Thickening musk permeated their nostrils which only made them throb even more as Holt slumped his lower body against the raptor to make sure he stayed hilted, and leave not a single drop of cum to escape the raptor's ass. The quivering flexing ring around his cock made certain to milk him, walls smeared across with human jizz as Oddclaw panted greedily whilst Jeremy bent over to give him a hot sweet kiss.

"Bachgen bach da."

[i]"Th-...th-th-thank you...for mating with me."[/i]

The two wrapped their tongues around each other's as they made a wondrous suckling noise from their throats, savouring the taste of their saliva which became yet another parting web of shimmering silk that dripped onto the raptor's chest. Jeremy soon laid himself next to him, not pulling out just yet as he wrapped his arms around his friend, curiously entranced by his skin texture as Oddclaw could smell his dominant testosterone now start to dissipate at the end of their little roleplay.

"Fuck you got sum smooth skin on you dab...like fuckin' the milk lad down the road when 'e left high school."

"I...love your cock inside me."

"HMHAHA! Ohhh you're the only one to ever say that to me."

"Sex with you is fun! You are strong and make me feel I am weak."

"Hey-ey none o' that, yer not weak, that don' sound righ'."

"N-no, sorry but...I mean that I like you being strong on me."

"That's called domming lad, ah told ya."

"Y-yes, daw-ming is fun. I like strong males to have sex with me...and I like to dom you."

"Ah like it too but you can't fix all yer cock inside me, think we managed eight inches last."

"I know I am big. The females in my tribe, they liked my cock but not my body."

"Pfft, fuck them lad, you 'ave a gift you should be proud of it! If sum cow doesn't want your body then they're not good enough for ya!"

"I know. My mother wants me to have a mate."

"Do YOU want a mate though? Let's be honest, do you actually lahk women?"

"Yes! I do, I like them a lot and I do want a mate."

"Alrigh'," said Holt, "guess yer one o' those lads that swing up both ways then."

"Yes," replied Oddclaw, "I like males and females."

"You 'ave a preference at all?"

"Preh-ferenss?"

"Do you like men more or women more?"

The raptor pondered this with a heady look up towards the ceiling. The light stung his eyes as he blinked looking back towards Holt.

"I do not know. I do not like one or the other more, I like them both."

"Alrigh', that's good then. So ah wuz thinkin' about teachin' you sum tricks over thuh next few days."

"Tricks?"

"Yeah yanno, stuff like that'll help you out in future."

"Oh, okay!"

They cleaned themselves up to head over to the firearms room where Jeremy brought along his personal weapon. Oddclaw had seen him use it a few times when in practice by using blank shells and Holt had taught him how to wield it. The gun was a relic of his time, an old Lupara sawn-off shotgun that had been well-used in its service as he handed it to the raptor. They practiced further on the appropriate range of firing such a weapon, being more of a close-range destroyer than anything else as Jeremy instructed its usage.

"Dodge 'em lad! He's comin' in for ya!"

"HUP, HRAH!"

"Thassit dab, dodge roll an' plug 'im righ' in the fuckin' gob!"

Even at close range a blank shell was deadly, firing at a paper target hard enough to crack the post it was on from the force as he rushed to the next one. Imagining that he was being shot at, the raptor rolled tightly into a ball with gun clutched against his chest like a swaddled babe before sprawling out into a low bow-legged posture. Firing upwards he shattered through the paper thighs and chest, heading to the third and last who stood nary a chance. His only hiccup was having to reload inbetween runs as he broke open the chamber and popped two shells, pulling them from his ammo pouch and snapping the barrels back into place.

"Not baaaad!" cried Holt. "Certainly come a long way from when you were droppin' yer shells all over the place like a daft twat."

"Th-thank you! This gun is very loud but I can control it now."

"You certainly look righ' with it. it's kinda funny but you do."

"You think so?"

"Oh aye, proper soldier you look wi' that."

The figure of a velociraptor wielding a sawed-off shotgun looked rather striking as he pointed it towards his ruined target, standing tall with posture.

"I like this shot-gun. It is like the ones in that movie with the unt-ouch-abulls."

"Hah, yeah righ', actually that is thuh same gun they use."

"Really?!"

"Yep. Me father 'ad it when he wuz in Italy on a campaign, saved thuh life of this woman who, turns out, wuz gettin' married to some big family down in Sicily. They gave 'im one o' these as a gift then 'e 'anded it down to me."

"What was your father like?"

"Strong, surly, harsh but not mean. Loved me mum like nuthin' else, retired so 'e could 'ave me with me mum."

"You said your...father made you fight because you loved males. Did he love you?"

"Mmmmm...ah think 'e just thought ah needed sum focus an' discipline, that maybe ah wuz just actin' out of sorts, rebellin'. Turned out that part of me never got straight."

"Oh. Thank you for the gun practice."

"S'alrigh' dab."

The raptor handed him back his shotgun.

"What is the next trick you want to teach me?"

"Ohhhh well, lessee...why don' we watch sum movies, ah found sum you migh' like about a lad called Jason Bourne."

"OH, yes please!"

After movie time Oddclaw walked over to the science lab when it was time for his usual lessons from Kevin. Studying the concept of making liquids into solids and gases was a fascinating world for the raptor to understand and yet it all made sense to him when Izquierda explained the concept of precipitation, how rain could be formed from the sky and why lightning exists.

"We call it skyfire," said the raptor.

"Hahaha, well I mean that's not untrue. You know there is a way of knowing how close the lightning is to you."

"Really?"

"Yes. Your eyes work faster than your ears, basically, the sound of something takes a lot longer to get to you than the sight of something."

"Oh, yes! I know that, when I hear my tribe, I always see them before I hear them."

"Exactly. Now, whenever you see lightning, you must count each second like one...two...three...four, and then stop counting when you HEAR the lightning, that rumbling sound."

"Oh, yes, the sound."

"The longer you count until you hear it, the further away it is from you. So say you stop counting at nine. Then when you see lightning again, count again...if you hear the sound before you hit nine, it is coming closer, so you should hide."

"And if I keep counting AFTER nine, it is going away!"

"YES, good! Genial!"

Beaming with pride Oddclaw wagged his tail, but then remembered where he was and stopped himself in case he knocked over something. He turned towards a set of beakers and worked at his own perfectly safe experiment as Jeremy walked in.

"Alrigh' lads!"

"Hola Jeremy."

"Jus' checkin' up on Oddie, he alright?"

"Oh he's fine just busying on some chemistry."

"Lissen uh, science question, whut do you put in a firework to make it go bang?"

"Uhhhh some potassium perchlorate and aluminium powder."

"You 'ave sum o' that?"

"I do but uh, why?"

"Jus' thinkin' it be nice to make a proper bang for Jane's birthday."

"I...do not think that is allowed."

"Awww why not? We not 'ad any good bangs around 'ere fer a bit."

"For a reason. We need to preserve what we have for more important things, we cannot waste our chemicals on anything unnecessary. I mean smoke bombs those are necessary."

"OH, whut you make them out of?"

"Um...why-"

"Ah got an order fer sum more that we need down at the depot."

"Oh really? Can I see the order?"

Jeremy handed him a report with officiating status to authorise the production.

"I do not know what you use them for, we have no enemies here."

"Weelllll yanno we get out into the jungle, mine fer sum more minerals for you lads we gotta keep them predators off our backs."

"Okay then uhhhh..."

The chemist handed Jeremy an appropriate amount of hexacloroethane, grained aluminium and zinc oxide for production.

"Get your guys to process that."

"Righ' thanks lad. Alrigh' ready to watch sum movies Odd?"

"OH, yes I am ready! Goodbye Kevin!"

"Hasta luego!"

The raptor moved away from the beakers and waved goodbye to Kevin as they went to watch some more movies. But the next day he went to see Andrea at the Third Energy lab whilst he had nothing to do, wanting to try and overcome his initial fears of the cold fire scent.

"The output's stable?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," replied her subordinate, "nothing else was off."

"Hmmmm...we're getting closer to the complete solution but I can't quite figure it...alright, why don't you keep a hold of those numbers and we'll try them once we've got this thing charged up."

"Yes ma'am."

Walking away with his calculations, the physicists got to work at their separate terminals whilst Andrea watched the latest recording they had from their previous experiment. It was one after the strange anomaly that Oddclaw had witnessed, glancing over her shoulder curiously at the monitor which revealed yet another opening of the portal. The swirling fractured mess within the steel eye had revealed some sort of landscape, blurring beyond their vision into a pastel dream of green and brown whilst hearing a young male voice speak with Andrea,whilst the video dated itself as January 8th, 2032.

[i]"Hello?"[/i]

[i]"OH, G-GODS!"[/i]

[i]"Wait, wait s-stop it's okay, it's fine we're just, we're not here to frighten you."[/i]

[i]"Wh-...who are you?!"[/i]

[i]"Is that...um, I'm sorry but are you from Earth?"[/i]

[i]"No. I don't know where that is, are you from another world?!"[/i]

[i]"Yes...I, sorry this is really confusing I hope we didn't frighten you."[/i]

[i]"Oh no! Not at all it's just I-i know about other worlds out there!"[/i]

[i]"You do?!"[/i]

[i]"Yes, my people we were...taken to another world, where are you from miss?"[/i]

[i]"I come from Earth...well a sort of different time of Earth, not the time I used to live in. My group got sent a few million years from our time period and things are rather complicated but the point is we're stuck and trying to get home."[/i]

[i]"Oh! Oh that's awful I'm sorry, I wish I could help...maybe I can get my master to-"[/i]

[i]"No, it's fine I'm just trying to get my people home I'm...sorry could you just, forget you ever saw us-"[/i]

[i]"But, no! I-i-i want to help, I wish I could help but-"[/i]

[i]"What is going on?!"[/i]

[i]"OH! Master! I-i-i found this, this portal just opened up-"[/i]

[i]"Get away from it boy!"[/i]

[i]"Portal's closing doc!"[/i]

[i]"Who are you?! Why are you in my pupil's study?!"[/i]

[i]"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, my name is Andrea Dixon, we're just trying to get back home, I-"[/i]

[i]"...portal closed, stabilisers resetting."[/i]

[i]"God...d-dammit."[/i]

She closed the video recording as Oddclaw stepped back silently before she turned round with a start.

"JESUS F-FUCKING hell Oddclaw!"

"I-i-i am sorry!"

"You could at least say hi or something to note your presence and NOT give me a heart attack!"

"I-i-i did not want to...disturb you, I am sorry Andrea."

"It...it's fine, nnnnngh."

Her face palmed itself into her hands with a long breath heaving from her throat. Frustration and upset fumed from her body as the raptor tried to excuse himself.

"Did you need something?"

"I was just...asking how the portal was."

"It's...like we found the...it's like Monsters Inc. when you have all the doors and you keep trying to find out which one is the right place."

"U-u-ummmmm-"

"And you just keep opening doors trying to find a way that LOOKS someplace like your house, but you just don't know what it is even anymore so you keep opening door after door after goddamn door, and I am terrified that I am never gonna find it because unlike the movie I don't KNOW what my door even looks like soooo yeah, I'm not doing great."

"I am sorry. ...would you like some chocolate?"

The raptor learned of chocolate not long after his incarceration. It was a very sweet treat that although he did not like nearly as much as jam, he found the humans rather eager to have it anytime they were offered it. She accepted it gladly, chewing on the bar mindlessly with a smile as the sugar helped ease her mood slightly.

"Thank you...sorry for that rant."

"It is okay, I...do not know what monstur-sink is."

"You never watched it?! We have it, it's an animated movie-"

"Oh, I-i do not like the animayshun ones, they...they confuse me."

"Ohhhh right. Damn, I love that movie...I should go watch it again after this, that was the first movie I ever watched."

"My first moo-vee was the unt-ouch-abulls."

"Hahaha, really?"

She cracked a third of the chocolate bar in her teeth and leaned back in her chair.

"Mmmwuz nut ixpiktin thet, glk...why did you watch that first?"

"Jeremy wanted to show me what his world was like. When he was, he said."

"Huh...so you like the real-life stuff, not sci-fi or fantasy?"

"No, not the moo-vees, but I do like the books because I can...see it in my head."

"Ahhhhhh I getcha, sooo what are you reading at the moment?"

"I am reading War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells."

"OH!"

Dixon clasped the chocolate to her heart with a dreamy look on her face.

"I love that book."

"You have read it?"

"Back in high school, I didn't even know they had it here. I watched the musical before reading the book, like when it was touring and god it was so good."

"Mew-zih-kul?"

"...oh, you don't know what that is? It's like a movie but entirely in song, they made one of the book and it was the best night I ever had."

"Where did you see it?"

"Houston, musta been about twelve, thirteen, my dad was all about musicals, he watched every one of them. Mom wasn't as big on them but she didn't mind, thought it was nice that him and me bonded."

"What was your father like?"

"He was real charming."

She spun herself round in her chair with a carefree look.

"That sorta guy who could schmooze his way into anything, like get free drinks at the bar anytime he wanted because he knew just the right thing to say to a cute girl tending. He worked in theatre so I guess that helped."

"Why did you become a scientist?" asked Oddclaw scritching his neck.

"I just wanted to learn more things," she said shrugging. "I thought we already knew the things we needed to know about our Earth and just wanted to explore space, like reach beyond the stars and figure out how things work."

"Stars? You know what they are?"

"Well, yeah some but Brightman's actually bigger on astronomy than me."

"Brightman knows about the stars?!"

"Yeah you should go talk to him, he loves talking about them. Me I'm more focused on the space between, the quantum physics and how to unravel the greatest mystery that this whole existence has to give. And I've watched a good few other places through that portal so I guess I'm doing something."

"There are other worlds?"

"Must be after all the Time stuff we're screwing, this is all Space frankly and I'm just trying to figure out how to get back on Time's track rather than Space."

The blank look on Oddclaw's face was to be expected as she shrugged with little explanation.

"I'm too tired to explain I'll tell you later."

"Alright. I hope you find your way home soon."

"Thanks, I hope so too. Hey thanks for the chocolate by the way, you get that from the kitchen?"

"No, I made it myself."

"...what?"

"Yes, I made it. Patterson let me make chocolate."

"Wow...this is actually really good, thank you, Oddie."

With a smile back at her he left the lab and walked on towards the front entrance curious to see the outside once again. The night was coming and Oddclaw always wanted reassurance that the stars were still there, having had a rather nostalgic need to witness them shining upon the earth. But what he had not expected to see, was a a shape hulking over a crate left in the front outside area.

"Hello?"

The shape turned towards him as he recognised the scent of Brightman who had currently been leering over a large telescope in front of him. He smelt rather apathetic with a hint of annoyance.

"Shouldn't you be reading something?"

"I just wanted to smell the air again. Is that okay?"

"Hm. No reason I can stop you."

He walked on to the west wall keeping away from the electric fence which hummed faintly at a level he could almost hear as he watched the stars twinkling. Brightman had dressed down into a pale blue shirt with buttons, staring deep into the lens as he cautiously tweaked the little dials whilst mumbling to himself. He only stopped to write into his journal next to him, but when he stopped to blink and rub the bridge of his nose Oddclaw stepped forwards gently.

"I forgot to thank you, for stopping Terry at the Christmas party."

"You don't have to," he replied, "he's MY subordinate and he was out of line. I appreciate you defending Addison without scratching anyone's eyes out."

"I promised her I would not hurt any humen. I learn what can hurt and not hurt you."

"...that...sounds rather sinister."

"It...I-i am sorry, I did not mean it like that."

"Hmph."

"Are you looking at the stars?"

"Why do you care?"

"Andrea tells me that you love the stars. I know someone who does too."

"Really?"

"Our...oldest and wisest of my tribe, he talks about the stars always. Dreams of people who have died."

"Hah...are you serious?"

"What?"

Thomas looked at him with the look of a sardonic atheist.

"Is that what your kind believe the stars are?"

"Beh-leev? It is true, when we die, our dreams and...thoughts turn into stars when the moon takes us from our cold bodies."

"Hhhhahahaha...ohhh jeez I can't believe this, you raptors actually have some kind of...belief system?!"

"I...what is beh-leef?"

"It's...it's..."

What he wanted to say was "a futile attempt to rationalise things you can't understand" or even "the lies that people tell you so you don't realise there is nothing after this". But something about Oddclaw's wide-eyed innocence struck a chord in him that stifled his words, as if he were on the verge of telling a child that Santa does not exist. He considered a more diplomatic answer instead.

"It's...trying to understand something."

"Un-derstand?"

"Yes. Your tribe believe this thing about the stars, but you have no idea WHAT they actually are, do you?"

"I know what they are."

"No, you don't. They are floating spheres of gaseous elements and plasma that lie far beyond our world."

"What?! That...how do you know?!"

"I'll show you. Come over here, look inside this but DON'T touch it."

"O-okay."

Oddclaw struggled to peer through the high-powered lens but the moment he did he flinched back with a startlement. He thought that something bright and piercing had come through the sky and shot him in the face until Brightman sighed with a thin patience.

"It's not going to hurt you, it's just a very powerful lens."

"Wh-wh-what, but, it was so BIG!"

"That's the point, a lens makes things LOOK bigger. See this tiny rock?"

He picked up a stone and held it towards Oddclaw's face.

"That...is small. Right?"

"Y-yes?"

"But it looks big to you because it's close. Now imagine I put it far away, and do this."

He brought out a small magnifying glass from his pocket, having planned ahead to explain this sort of thing to the raptor who saw the rock enlarge in the lens.

"OH! It...it is big now!"

"Yes, because the LENS focuses on it, so that it LOOKS bigger, but it's still far away. Now see? This rock is small, but the ones up THERE are far away. Small. Far awaaaaay."

As patronising as he was in showing the magnifying glass on and off the rock, it helped Oddclaw make the connection as he nodded before trying the telescope again. He was anxious certainly, but the star glaring in front of him from far beyond the reaches of his Earth simply took his breath away. A small shimmering orb hanging in the dark, crossed with flaring glints but it was enough for him to see it was indeed a round shape.

"There, see that? That...is a star."

"Hhhhhhhaaaaa...is...THAT is a star?"

"It is," said Thomas firmly. "Every star that exists out there is nothing but a flaming ball of energy, just waiting to be released."

"What happens if...it release?"

"Then it explodes. Generally speaking, they grow big, then burst and collapse in on itself. In fact, that star you're looking at has probably already disappeared perhaps millions of years ago."

"Wh-what?! But...I can see it!"

"No, you only see its LIGHT. See all that big black sky above you? That is space. And space is so far-reaching, it is so vast like one enormous black ocean that the star you are seeing would take your entire ancestry and mine to reach. The light of that star has to travel all the way across the space and it only reaches us many millions of years after that star has died out. You understand?"

"......yes. I do."

"Good."

"I un-derstand...that the star has died."

"Yeeees good."

"And that I am seeing its...HAH! YES I WAS RIGHT!"

"Huh?!"

"You are right and I am right too! You said it was a ball of gas, and I said it was the dreams of someone who has died, but not who I think of!"

"What do you mean?!"

"That light. It is coming from a star that has died, so that light is its dream!"

"Wha-...what the-th-that's not what I sai-"

"I told you what my tribe has told me, my beh-leef that it was the dreams of those who died, but now I see it is not the star itself, but the light it shines down upon us. The light is trying...to reach us, trying to shine its hope on us...on those we have left behind, our families......fathers, sons...mothers and daughters."

Something trembled inside Thomas' heart at hearing this. It was an idea he had never had before, about the stars and their light as he turned his head up towards the heavens where millions upon billions of ancient dreams blinked down upon the strange ancient earth. He found himself surprised at the oddly amicable solution Oddclaw made in accepting both reasons and struggled to make any sort of counterargument that wasn't antagonistic.

"I...suppose you may have a point then."

"I do not think either of us are wrong, sir."

"Hm......did you know that us humans gave each of those stars names?"

"Really? Why?"

"So we can tell them apart. Each star is special to us, back in the old days, when us humans were very unskilled and did not have any of this technology you see, we would end up lost on the farthest reaches of the world until we learned to look at the stars and tell each of them apart...then, we would find our way back home."

"Ohhh...that is very clever! Do you know any of these stars?"

"I...don't know actually."

"What?"

"The stars over my world are very different to yours Oddclaw. Your world and my world are over millions of years apart and the sky changes so much in that time."

"Oh. ...what if we named them?"

"Huh?"

"Why not name one now? If none of these stars have names, we can give them names."

"...you know, that's actually not a bad idea."

Brightman smirked, feeling rather boyish as his heart leapt with a surprising sense of adventure.

"Alright then, let's pick the brightest star and see what we can come up with."

"Yes, good! .........THERE! That one, that one is really bright!"

"Damn, it really is. ...I wonder if that's Polaris."

"Poh-larees?"

"N-never mind, let's make a new name. Do you have any ideas?"

"I......n-n-no, I was thinking of my father, Oddscar."

"Hah...Oddscar. ...we could actually call it OddSTAR."

"OH! OddSTAR, that is good, that is very good I like!"

"Alright, Oddstar it is. The Oddstar, shining brightest of all."

"Now you pick one."

Thomas scanned the middling cluster of nebulae and struggled to see a good one that possibly shone brighter than all the rest. He narrowed his eyes down to fingering a sweet little spark just slightly apart from every other cluster.

"THAT...one."

"Ooooh...is very bright. What do you want to call it?"

"......Samantha."

"Oh...that is a good name."

"Yes. It is."

Oddclaw could smell the subtle twinging of a sadness in Brightman. He did not even think he was capable of such until now but he said nothing.

"Do you want to name another one sir?"

"Nah, it's your turn anyways. How about that one?"

"That is a nice star...I should call that Anna."

"Hmm!? Anna Kerkorian?"

"She is very nice, her eyes look like stars when she smiles at me."

"Hhhah...you should tell her that."

"...I should. Before I sleep. Thank you sir, and goodnight."

"Goodnight, Oddclaw."

The raptor smiled and bowed towards Brightman before heading back inside, leaving the General smiling at having taught the newcomer something of his own. He started to realise faintly why Jane took such a liking to him as Oddclaw realised it was just about time for bed. He caught sight of Jane as she was leaving the library.

"OH, hello Jane."

"Oh hello Oddclaw."

"Is um...Miss Kerkorr-reean inside?"

"No she just left. Did you need something?"

"I wanted to return my book, I finished reading."

"Oh...you can just give it to her tomorrow, she won't mind."

"Okay."

"...are you alright?"

She noticed the slightly pensive mood in his eyes as he smiled.

"It is nothing, I was just...thinking what book I want to read next."

"Oh, well I can recommend you something."

"Tell me tomorrow. Jane?"

"Yes?"

"...I never tell you how much you...mean to me."

"Wha-pardon?"

"You were my first friend. You...beh-leeved in me when no one else did. I would have been in that room if you had not helped me. I like the humen here, but you are my first friend. I will never forget you Jane. Thank you."

He walked forwards to wrap his arms around the woman, bending down slightly to reach her height before giving a long slow lick across her cheek. She tried to blink her tears away with a shock of warmth to her heart.

"Th-thank you...I...I'm so glad we became friends Oddclaw."

"I hope you return home soon."

"And...I hope we get you home soon too."

"Thank you. Goodnight Jane."

"Goodnight, Oddclaw.

They walked to their separate rooms as Oddclaw did not rest for long. A little nap was all he needed when in the midst of the night, after Brightman had returned to his quarters after stargazing enough, there came a sudden clamour from the military wing.

"SIR, G-GENERAL!"

"What?!"

"F-FIRE, SMOKE DETECTED IN ZONE FIVE!"

"WHAT!?"

Soldiers rushed through the halls as people started to rouse from all the disturbance. People were ordered to remain in their rooms unless any presence of smoke or fire was detected in which case they vacate to the outside. As a precaution, the hallways normally closed between zones were now fully open despite still being guarded, in case anyone needed to escape.

"WHY DIDN'T THE FIRE ALARM GO?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"Ma'am please remain in your room it's just a precaution!"

"IS THERE A FIRE?!"

"We are dealing with it now, PLEASE remain in your room unless you detect smoke or fire."

Jane, Kevin and Andrea were looking around from their rooms trying to gauge the situation. Jeremy came rushing past with a mail bag on a wheeled trolley now repurposed to hold laundry.

"JEREMY WHAT'S GOING ON-"

"GET BACK INSIDE AH NEED TO GET THESE BLANKETS THROUGH!"

"WAIT, where's Oddclaw!?"

"HE'S SAFE DON'T YOU WORRY AH TOLD 'IM TO STAY IN HIS ROOM!"

Tearing through the halls he made his way to the residential zone which was guarded still despite leaving the doors open. Just before he approached in turning the corner, he threw something into the bathroom.

"Lads, where's the fire?!"

"Zone five, what are you doing?!"

"Blankets mate, gotta put the fire out wi' summat!"

"The fire's not in zone one, head downstairs to zone five that's where-"

[b][i]BANG.[/i][/b]

"JESUS SHIT WHAT WAS THA-"

A violent explosion suddenly rang twice through the halls.

"W-was that a gunshot?!"

"S-sir stay here please, we might need those blankets!"

"Alrigh' lads."

The guards propped their rifles before them and rushed past him to turn round the corner, seeing smoke waft from the bathroom. Before they even opened the door there came another vicious bang that sent them reeling back.

"[i]S-SOMEONE'S FIRING BACK![/i]"

"[i]CEASE FIRE, NOW![/i]"

Another two shots came from within the bathroom, causing the guards to pull back and wait as the base turned into a frenzy of confusion. The shooter stopped, and soon as they could they burst the door open with weapons aimed only to see not a single soul was inside despite the smell of gunpowder.

"...what, the-"

"S-someone was shooting at us, right?!"

"I don't...wait...h-hold up wait."

Peering down beneath the stalls they found the remnants of cracked blackened shells one would find from homemade fireworks. They did not realise until too late the perpetrator who was currently heading off towards the entrance of the building.

Jeremy pulled the thick insulated blankets out of the laundry basket revealing they had been taped together to create one endless carpet, as well as Oddclaw himself hiding underneath curled up like an orphaned babe. The 20 foot fence seemed impossible to scale, until Holt brought out a harpoon gun, tied its rope to one end of the blanket and aimed over the perimeter. The shot sent its harpoon into a sweet arc over the wall as the blankets were impaled nicely upon either side like clothes on a radiator.

"Alrigh' time fer you to go."

"Is it safe?" asked Oddclaw.

"Insulated blankets, protect ya from bein' electrocuted, trust me ah tested this."

"You planned this?"

"At sum point ah wanted to break free, so ah set up a wee plan fer mahself figurin' how if ah ever needed to...but then I decided to calm down an' well, sum years later we found you an' just, ah think you need this more than ah do."

"I...I do not know how to thank you."

"You can thank me when you get over thuh bloody fence now go an' take this."

Holt offered him a belt that wrapped round his waist neatly with two pouches and a holster.

"That has sum bandages like we gave you before, sum water in a bottle an' there's also twenty shells for this."

He then gave the raptor the very thing that the holster would fit, in the form of his sawn-off shotgun. The raptor was shocked to see him hand over his powerful gun so easily.

"Use it wisely lad. Remember, you've only got twenty shells, that's literally all ah could give so you shouldn't need to use it unless you got some big REAL big bastard comin' down on ya."

"You...y-you are giving me your...f-father's gun?"

"Ah don' have much use fer it but, ah think that might 'elp you more."

"...why are you doing all of this?"

"You went along with it didntcha? Ah mean you went an' stole all them ingredients behind Kevin's back, you gave me thuh signal when Brightman wuz back inside an' me trainin' you up to use mah gun-"

"N-no, I know I did, I...I wanted to be free and I know you really wanted to help but just...WHY, are you doing this? Why would you lie and trick the other humen just to help me, you never tells me."

"Because...ah just want to be free like you. An' if ah can't get back to my home well, then...maybe at least ah can help you."

Oddclaw was lost for words, raking his claw gently over the smooth-polished wood and steel barrel of the old-world weapon. He tried his best regardless to give his

"When you brought me here, you ask me who I was. And I wonder...who you was. I think we are the same, you and me. Humen and me. We are Whos trapped on a speck, in a world we do not belong in. That is why I do not hate you for keeping me here. All you wanted was someone to hear you, Jeremy. Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around the veteran tightly, whimpering at the scent of the soldier that he would never know again.

"I will not forget you, or any of my friends here. I will...see you in my dreams."

"And I'll see you in mine mochyn bach," said Jeremy planting a kiss on his lips. "Now cummon, get up before they realise whut we've done."

With tender blush of happiness, Oddclaw stripped down his shorts and attached his belt before holstering his new weapon, scaling the blankets over the fence which gave a menacing tremble of a fierce electric current now kept at bay from the insulating fabric. He managed to reach the top and slid himself down taking care with his claws not to touch the steel before landing on the outside. The place he had spent a long three years now stood before him as a shining mountain still, but one he never saw fully until now, towering with its antenna and satellite dishes faintly glowing in the distant moonlight. Jeremy smiled at him from inside the compound, waving slowly.

"Goodbye, Oddclaw."

"Good...goodbye, Jeremy."

"Tell yer family ah said hi."

"You...you tell your family, I said hello too."

He ran towards the distant west until Holt could no longer see him within the dark stretching shores of the long primitive coast. Sadness dwelled in him but also a strange feeling of release and joy at the sight of Oddclaw disappearing. He didn't care what would happen to him, knowing that no whatever reprimand he was given was nothing compared to the glorious freedom that he gave the raptor now gone beyond their reach. He had found his heart turn free with his.