Hybrids: An Indoraptor Story ✓

Lost & Found

Win?

I looked upon the young female human cuddling upon my tail, still lost within her crystal blue eyes. "We can't win. No matter what we do, they'll hunt us down. There's no escaping this, not unless we disappear."

Autumn's eyes brightened. "Then we disappear."

"What?"

"You're right about humans," she went on. "They'll hunt you because a hybrid's worth in cash outweighs 'everything', including your life. People don't value anything by the beauty of life anymore -- only by success and failure. And humans don't like to lose... it makes them stubborn about everything. It's what made my dad stubborn."

She gazed over at the flames ahead, beginning to break into a heartfelt whimper. "I guess that's why I disappeared, too."

I coiled my ivory tail around her, securing it under her legs so that the rest of herself could collapse into a bundle against my flank. Like a mother to a hatchling I began nuzzling the human part of me, purring quietly and easing her against my scales. I rounded her hair, cheek, and chest, offering soothing licks, some to tickle, others to calm. Then I drew away to look upon my alter self, and shook my head.

"You didn't disappear. Wu..." My eyes lowered to the ground. "Dad... still has our picture on his table. And everyday... he looks at it... and thinks of you. And when I look at him... I remind him of you, too. I guess that's why he never went to see me. Only to keep me alive..."

Autumn blinked at me as I lowered my head to the ground.

"He never wanted to let you go... and neither will everyone else. Not for any of this. It's a never ending loop..."

"B-But you... know how to break it though, right?" asked Autumn. I shook my head.

"It's never going to stop. No matter what we do..."

Autumn looked at the flaming car a second time, watching the gorgeous display of fire and smoke bursting into the foggy skies. She looked over to me for a moment, then down to her hands.

"Not by yourself."

A loud thud suddenly echoed the void we laid in, followed by a few grunts. We felt the ground shift a few inches beneath us, then heard a loud BANG ricochet across the forest. My head raised upward in alarm, trying to seek out the threat at play. But Autumn already knew; she was upright, looking directly at me.

"Your friend," Autumn said. "He's in danger."

I tilted my head to eavesdrop upon the echoes reigning above the endless fog; grunts, gunshots, and growls seemed to be all I could detect. And then a cry so familiar, it made my stomach drop.

"Click."

My head whirled from right to left; all I saw was forest and fog. That, and the flaming car ahead of us. I lunged to my feet, drifting from Autumn's side in a state of panic.

"How do I leave?"

Autumn swallowed, but didn't reply. Growling, I lashed my tail in defiance and snarled.

"Autumn, how do I leave?!"

"I-I don't know."

"I can't stay here!" I cried, bursting toward the foggy forest in hopes it'll lead me somewhere. But, just as I'd expect, I landed right where I began, now on the opposite side of the street. Autumn looked at me with fear, a small whimper breaking even in her throat. Growling, I brushed past her frozen statue, dashing down the street and away from the flaming car.