Isla Sorna Stories: Rebirth

[Hopeflower]

Zuri huffed a short laugh and growled, "Even if I could change my mind now, I wouldn't. Hopefully, they won't start getting into trouble too quickly."

Alira finished her snack and hopped over to help her mother brush the last of the spiderlings off of Cirrus. He looked even grumpier than usual and was muttering that he could do it himself, but his claws were still firmly driven into the earth. His sister's ever-curious mind wondered if he'd hoped pretending to grow roots and become a tree would make the spiders go away.

[The Kingpin]

"Really? He's kinda the talk of the island lately. Everyone knows him. Well, not everyone, but a lot" hissed Fatalis. "Hasn't been long enough yet, Fatalis. I doubt news has spread that fast. As far as I could tell the only ones that have a problem with him are the Spinosaurs and our new friend here" growled Hellfire. "Yeah, well it's not exactly surprising the Spinos hate him. He DID kinda, you know, beat up their strongest ally and then made him live with the insult by letting him go" responded Fatalis...


Aurora looked over to the source of the quake, eyeing the sauropod that had, for some odd reason, pushed exceptionally far into the treeline. It was still a significant distance away, far from being a threat, so with a grunt, the female returned her focus to the alpha female of their new pack. "Well, if they become too much of a handful, I'd be glad to help. I've been doing it for years now. It was one of my duties in Xanthe and Savarna's pack before it was broken up. These three are usually my job" growled the female with a chuckle, Blade slowly getting back to his feet and walking towards Cirrus, suddenly now that most of the spiders had apparently scattered...

[Giratina93]

The swamp gave way, the land drying up as Ironfang moved cautiously through the mist. the skeletons of dead sauropods still surrounded him, no doubt the remains of an entire herd, dead either from an ambush of predators, or a sickness that had spread through them. Whichever one, Ironfang didn't know. He could barely see though the mist, and all around him was a deafening silence. There were no birds, no pterosaurs here... only a graveyard...

The attack came from the left.

Ironfang howled as a monstrous form bolted from the mist and rammed into his side at full force. He was lifted from the ground, blood spilling from his maw as he impacted the ground. It had come so fast, he was unable to react. As he tried to rise, a single powerful foot pressed down on his side, and pain gripped Ironfang's entire body. The Baryonyx didn't dare fight back. His assailant was a Tyrannotitan, over fifty feet in length, and more than double his weight. The pale red face of the predator was mere feet from his own, saliva dripping from the 7 inch fangs.

From the mist emerged a second Tyrannotitan, and then a third, and then a fourth, all focused on the pinned fish eater. Ironfang could hear it, the snarls and rumbles of half a dozen giants, waiting for the right moment to tear him apart. He hadn't found the group he had in mind... they had found him.

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

Darkness let out a loud and condescending 'hmph,' falling back into step with the others. "Typical. Completely typical."

[C S]

"At least he's not prattling on about his history," Aircrest noted, somewhat relieved about this fact.

[The Kingpin]

Hellfire eyed the newcomer with a shrug, before continuing onwards. Fatalis, meanwhile, was barely restraining himself from another comment. Letting silence dominate, he led on into the trees, the first of his markers, a rough three claw slash across the side of a Willow tree, several feet off the ground and out of the line of sight of most Raptors, becoming visible, the Raptor tapping Hellfire with his tail before nodding towards it, who in turn, echoed the gesture with Aircrest...

[C S]

When Aircrest saw the marker, he nodded, somewhat pleased. The trail led out of the swamp and led to a place where the group could continue to keep a watchful eye on the ousted spinosaurus. "Lead on, and keep alert. If the really bad mutants are lurking around out here along with those Displacement kooks, then this won't be a pleasant little walk about," Aircrest growled. He turned to the stranger--he'd have to ask his name sometime, when he could afford such formality--and added, "But if we do run into them, be free to try to collect. It might be hard to find the eyes with some of them, but if you dig in enough you're bound to find... something." He shrugged, not quite sure where he was going with that one.

[Hopeflower]

Devaki tilted his head curiously. Xanthe allowed a strange female to start interacting with youngsters? "Forgive me if I'm prying, but you said you joined the pack some time after I left," he growled. "How did you meet Xanthe?"

Silver met Steeltalon at the treeline, on the way to getting a drink herself. She blinked in surprise, then asked her adoptive mother, "Walk with me? I wanted to talk to you." The half-breed resisted the urge to sigh and turned around, flicking clots of mud off of her toes as she walked back down to the water. "No point in doing that," Silver commented. Steeltalon snorted, growling, "What did you want to talk to me about?" "Where we're going," the pale gray female replied, picking her way over the mud delicately. Steeltalon hung back, not wanting to risk getting stuck again. Silver made it look easy with her lighter frame. "I don't know," she admitted. "Wherever there's enough food and water that we're not scraping by." She turned her head, nostrils flaring as she scented the air. "Seems we're right on the right track if there's still something here." The half-mutant tried to sound optimistic. Silver lifted her muzzle and gave her a look that said the younger female was less than convinced.

[Turbo Tyrannophonic]

"When I come to collect, they'll know," the dark raptor replied with a fiendish grin. "Ooohh you better believe they'll know."

He did not seem inclined to elaborate.

[The Kingpin]

Aurora smiled softly at the male, glancing at Blade as he slowly, carefully approached the other adolescent male in the group, still suspicious of the spiders that moments ago were covering him. "I lost my pack during a hunt. We weren't even much of a pack. Only three of us. My mate, Ferox, and his sister, Nex. They were hunting on a plain West of the island while I was gravid with Blade" she explained as she adjusted herself, getting comfortable. "I was watching from a distance so I could move in when they'd brought down the kill, since competition was high there. A stampede of Triceratops tore through the plain while they were hunting a young Camarasaurus. I tried to warn them, but I was too late. The stampede was huge. spanned the width of the plain, all the way to a river on the other side. In the aftermath, all I found was a trail of their blood. I tracked it to the river, and found it overlooking a waterfall. The trail ended there. The current was so strong there's no way they could've gotten across even without their injuries" she explained, a measure of pain evident in her voice.

Taking a moment to put it behind her, she continued. "So from there, I was forced to give up...Surviving alone is hard enough, but surviving alone while gravid is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It's like hunting for several mouths, without the help. Eventually, I found Xanthe's pack while trying to scavenge a gallimimus from a couple of Raptors, and he was kind enough to take me in, even if some of his pack disagreed. I had a clutch of five...That little ball of energy over there's the only one that made it. A little survivor, like his father had been before I lost him" she growled, her almost unnatural pale amethyst eyes settling on Blade, who at this point was nudging Cirrus with the tip of his muzzle...


"Riiight. So, what exactly happened in that ruin, Aircrest?" hissed Fatalis, his taunting attitude for once dissolving in favour of curiosity as they walked through the swamp. The end of it seemed to be not too far off. The humidity and heat had definitely lightened up compared to how it had been in the heart of the swamp while pursuing Thrasher...

[Hopeflower]

The young male's gaze softened. "My condolences," Devaki growled gently, sympathizing even though he had no way of truly understanding her loss. "Blade certainly seems like a strong youngster. He'll grow into a fine predator one day."

Cirrus, irritable and still feeling like his skin was crawling, snapped, "How do you manage to find trouble wherever you go?" Alira, feeling that blaming anyone in this situation was unfair, protested, "It's not his fault the spiders were there."

[The Kingpin]

"Thank you" rumbled Aurora as she looked at the male with a soft smile. "We have you to thank for that" she added, glancing over at Blade who snapped back at Cirrus's hostile tone. "You think I actually look for it? I just have bad luck. How was I to know there'd be spiders? It could've happened to you, and I wouldn't be blaming you for it!" he growled...

[Hopeflower]

Devaki dipped his head slightly, following her gaze to the escalating quarrel. Blade's response only served to fuel the older juvenile's ire, Cirrus hissing, "How about using your eyes from time to time, compy-brain? Then these things wouldn't happen at all!" Alira moved to place herself between the two males, in hopes of stopping a fight from breaking out.

[The Kingpin]

"Yeah? You try seeing spider webs in the dark over there!" hissed Blade, a low warning snarl coming from Aurora as she eyed the pair. "Behave yourselves you two. Cirrus, Blade couldn't see the spiders under all the plants. Blade, try not to cover Cirrus in spiders next time. Now shush, both of you" she growled. "But-" started Blade, shrinking when the female's gaze went from a casual sidelong glance to a direct stare, her gaze suddenly harsher than most had seen from her. The young Allosaur fell silent, giving Cirrus one last look before walking over to the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree, grumbling under his breath. "Honestly, you'd think you two hadn't been together since you were hatchlings" growled Aurora, rolling her eyes before returning her gaze to Devaki...

[Hopeflower]

Cirrus snorted, watching Blade go with narrowed eyes before turning his back, leaving Alira torn between her friend and her brother. In the end, she trotted to her mother's side, curling up beside Savarna. Devaki, satisfied the conflict had been resolved without drawing unwanted attention, relaxed against Zuri's side. "Young males will be young males," he growled. "I'm sure they'll get over it." His amber gaze warned that they would need to learn to. Infighting as they got older wouldn't be tolerated.

[The Kingpin]

"I'll make sure of that, don't you worry" rumbled Aurora firmly, more as a warning to the two young males than anything. Blade noted his mother was no longer looking at him, but Cirrus, and, though he had no idea if it was fact or his own hopes, seemed to be making a statement that she noted Cirrus was the aggressor more often than not...

[C S]

"How about I tell you later? Like... after a proper sleep, later?" Aircrest growled succinctly and quietly without breaking his vigil into their surroundings.

[Hopeflower]

Devaki nodded, trusting that if Xanthe had previously given her the task of watching over the young ones, she would see to it. The young alpha gave an enormous stretch and settled in to keep an eye on their surroundings. Zuri, despite the female's efforts, was dozing, the drain being gravid had on her body overcoming the small female. Alira was bouncing around by Savarna's side, chasing a large dragonfly. No matter the trouble she and the others got into, it never seemed to impact her energy or her cheerful demeanor.

[Kiryu Gwangi]

Berserker walked across the land, growling bitterly all the while. After having ripped apart that Allosaurus, the tyrannosaur was feeling better, though he was still frustrated at his defeat. Oh well, now he just cared about getting back to his territory.

Berserker stopped for a moment at a riverside, drinking from the river for a moment, before he lay down on the ground to rest for the moment.

[The Kingpin]

The following morning saw Crusher awakened by the snapping of branches and groans of swaying trees. Morphena was awake almost as quickly as he was, curled against his flank, exactly where the had laid at the end of the previous night's activity. A low, chilling snarl rumbled in the male Rex's throat as he quickly rose to his feet, Morphena rising behind him as the two glared towards the source of the noise. With his victory over Thrasher so recent, he was still wary of predators hoping to make the most of his exhaustion in the aftermath. His threatening snarl soon faded as Zephora stepped out of the trees, Sarraya and Sarcus following close behind. "You let him live?" snarled Sarraya, rushing forward angrily before Zephora cut her off, keeping her from attacking her brother in blind rage. "Yes. I let him live. But not for the reason you think" rumbled Crusher firmly as he looked at his family, Sarcus going around the two females and heading straight for his sister, nuzzling her. "I'm glad you're okay" rumbled Zephora as she approached her son, nuzzling into his neck with a rumbling growl of relief. The Scarred Rex's sister was seething, however, showing no such care for his well-being. "Really? Not what I think? Then enlighten me brother. Tell me why you let the thing that killed our father and both our brothers, walk away alive. Tell me why his battered corpse isn't laying here in the clearing on display as a warning. Tell me why you've seemingly turned your back on everything you've lived all this time for" snarled the female, working herself to a fever pitch, lips curled in a dangerous snarl. "I do not expect you to understand. You're angry about it, and in a way, so am I. But killing him would not have solved our problems. It would have made me just as bad as he is. I won't let myself become Thrasher just to avenge dad. That's just asking for it all to start over again. If I do that, his young, his relatives, someone, will come after me when I'm too old to fight them off, and then my young will go through the same life I did. I won't let that happen just to vent my anger on a slimy, cowardly, treacherous creature like Thrasher" growled Crusher firmly. "Your young?" growled Sarraya, raising her brows, to which Crusher glanced at Morphena, the female walking past her brother and standing by Crusher's side, causing the three other Rexes to freeze, looking at the two.


"....Well. That's certainly gonna take my parents by surprise" growled Sarcus, the first to speak after the shock subsided. "Nah. I'm fairly sure Mom already knows. Probably part of the reason she let me go" growled Morphena, her brother standing there in shock. "I'm glad to hear it" rumbled Zephora, her expression softening as she looked at the two, Sarraya remaining silent. "I suppose the question now is, what's next?" questioned the older female. "Thrasher's territory is being dissolved. I'm only taking a fifth of it for myself. Just enough for me, Morphena and one or two young. Everything else is open for others" explained Crusher. "You're welcome to stay with us or take a bit of territory next to our own. Better you than some Giga, Carcha or other predator we don't know" offered Morphena, Zephora's expression curling into a gentle smile. "If you'll have me, I'd gladly accept" she growled, Crusher snorting. "Why would we ever turn you down? What's ours is yours" he rumbled, Zephora nodding appreciatively before her eyes settled on something half buried in the dirt, obscured by moss and rocks. "Is that...?" she started, Crusher nodding solemnly, the female approaching the mostly buried skull of a Tyrannosaur; one that had fallen 16 years ago...