Scales Of Iron | an Indoraptor Story

V: Huntsman

The cold morning breeze blew past Ripper's scaley hide, continuing it's ever-lasting journey. Soft grass, accompanied by the wind created a calm, but eerie atmosphere.

Ripper was lying on the grass, intending to rest just a little longer before continuing his trek. He had promised that he would follow the others, as they had already taken off a few minutes prior. After all, a little more rest couldn't hurt.

Ripper let his eyes wander around to spot possible danger or prey, until they came upon a curious sight. The lights of a house a few hundred yards away from him had come to life, with the silhouette of a human standing at one of the windows. He was sure the human hadn't spotted him, as he was camoflauged to the base of the tree quite well, until...

BANG!

The loud crack of a shotgun blast boomed across the field as several pellets ricocheted from his back plates. After recovering from the shock, Ripper immediately tried to find the shooter, finally managing to land his eyes on an adult human male somewhere in his 40's crouched behind a large rock. He could hear the shotgun's fore-end cocking back like a pump and an empty shell hitting the side of the rock over the irritating ringing, thanks to his advanced sense of hearing.

When the ringing stopped, another loud bang ripped through the air as pellets embedded themselves into Ripper's thick hide, thankfully not going too deep. He roared in pain and immediately charged for the shooter, intending to neutralize the threat before it could get off another shot.

Ripper leaped and landed on the rock the man was crouched behind. He could smell the fear and see the terrified expression on the human's face as it looked up. A sadistic smile grew on Ripper's face as he bit down on the man's shoulder, hearing the satisfying crunch of broken bones, before throwing him off to the side.

The human lied motionless on the field, his blood dripping down to the ground. Ripper, convinced that his attacker was eliminated, decided that this should be a good time to leave.

He quickly got to running, picking up speed quite quickly. Before long, he had ran through the field and gotten into the large forest. The scent of his group had not yet wavered, allowing the indoraptor to follow their trail. A beautiful orange light was cast upon the woods from the sunrise, slowly drying the crimson blood that coated Ripper's jagged teeth.

He continued to follow the scent, avoiding obstacles along the way. Sharp rocks and annoying branches often irritated him, but they weren't anything major. Ripper had always dreamed of being as free as he was now. Tight cages and concrete walls aren't exactly the most comfortable places for a dinosaur as big and heavy as him.

This got him thinking, if Apollo and Riley exist, does that mean others exist as well? And if there are others, how many? More hybrids isn't always a good thing. While he was thinking, he realized he was heading off the trail.

Suddenly, the disgusting smell of a bloody corpse hit his nostrils. The stench was coming from the east, a little ways off from his current location. Deciding to investigate, he followed the direction of the dead body.

A slight feeling of fear got a hold of him, as an intrusive though pushed itself deep into his mind. What if the corpse was someone from his posse? Ripper would hate to lose a possible asset in getting his revenge against Wu, especially someone as important as Apollo or Riley.

When he finally got there, he discovered the clawed body of a raptor. Based off of the damage, it must have been fighting multiple other raptors, before eventually dying from it's injuries. After further examination, he concluded that the raptor was a female, had a big brown stripe going from head to tail, and was tan in colouration.