Raptillion

Prologue

I watch excitedly as the first of the four eggs cracks open. A small yellow eye peaks out of the hole right at me. It may have just hatched but it's eyes hold a ferocity that would scare a grown man. But, not me. I see past that to the sweet animal it could be if loved and cared for properly. Which is what I am here for. Another piece of egg drops away. Beaming with excitement I turn to my father who is talking to a man in a lab coat. I tug on pant leg.

"Daddy! Daddy look!" I squeal in excitement.

My father is young and still has that adventurous gleam in his eye. But, when he looks down at me that is replaced by love. Even though I look just like my mother, who abandoned us as soon as I was out of her stomach, he still loves me just the same. Sometimes I ask him if he misses my mom but he tells me that they were young and thought they were in love and she just wasn't ready to raise a family. It makes me mad when he says that because what if he wasn't ready for a family but ended up with one anyway? I told him this onetime and he looked at me sternly and said 'Maya you are everything to me and I don't regret a thing with you're mother because she gave me you.'

He kneels down next to me and asks me, "What is it sweetheart?"

"The first one is hatching!" I yell and point at the baby egg.

"Shh baby we don't want to scare it. Remember we have to get them to trust us." He scolds me gently.

"Ok. Sorry daddy." I whisper. Suddenly the egg starts to shake and then it explodes revealing a baby raptor. It's small with blue stripes weaving down it's back. It makes a croaking sound before locking eyes with me. It shakily walks toward the glass separating it and me. Never breaking eye contact it places it's head against the glass. I slowly place my hand where it's head is. Little did I know our bond started in that moment.

Another egg shakes drawing the attention of the baby as it walks over to inspect it's sibling.

"What do you want to call the Beta?" My dad points to the baby who is curiously sniffing the eggs.

"You're going to let a seven year old name an asset?" The man in the lab coat scoffs at my dad.

"It's an animal not a number on a spreadsheet. And why not? She's going to be apart of training them so she should name them." My dad retorts. "Now sweetheart go ahead and name her."

I think of various names for her but only one really fits her. "Blue! Her name is Blue."

"Beta Blue. I like it, good job sweetie."

"But, daddy. Shouldn't she be the Alpha and not the Beta?"

"No baby. We're the Alphas we are going to teach them and respect them so that they will do the same in return." My dad looks at Blue who growls at him slightly.

Soon after Delta was born. His green skin contrasts with Blue's stripes. After him Charlie hatched. He had Delta's green skin but had black rings going around his body. Daddy named Delta but said I can name the other two. I named him Charlie because he bit his big brother and it reminded me of my favorite YouTube video. Daddy told me it was also a code name he used in the Navy for missions. Lastly, Echo was born. Her name was perfect because she echoed every noise her siblings made. Echo has murky brown skin that is different from the others.

These four raptors would be the best thing that ever happened to me.