Shadows and Hope: An Indoraptor Story ✓

Fading Light

We had finally woken up after our long nap following the raucous feast with the menacing beast. I felt surprisingly well-rested, and even my copper-inflicted wounds had shown signs of improvement. However, one thought loomed ominously in my mind: another gunshot would be my end. It wouldn't be long before the copper would rend me apart, poisoning my bloodstream.

"Are you awake, Mrraw?" Red's deep voice rumbled beside me. I gazed into his sleepy, crimson eyes and couldn't help but smile. I leaned in and nuzzled him, sensing Blue stirring from his slumber at my side.

"I'm ready. Shall we continue?" I inquired, my gaze meeting his. He nodded and raised his formidable head, his rough tongue delicately tending to the wounds that Bear had inflicted upon me. They were lengthy and substantial, yet thankfully not deep enough to fester with infection.

I couldn't help but notice that he had already licked his wounds before we retired for the night. Concern for his well-being gnawed at the edges of my thoughts, but I understood that pressing the matter would be futile.

"Blue, wake up," I murmured to the gray-blue raptor, who responded with a deeper growl as she stirred. "Just one more minute," she mumbled, her drowsiness evident. I chuckled softly and gently nudged her again. "No, we must move now if we hope to reach Palo Alto before nightfall," I declared. Blue let out a resigned sigh and rose to her feet, shaking off sleep and the clinging sand particles from her scales.

"Shall we hunt before we depart?" she asked, her tail swaying and claws making an eager clicking sound.

I exchanged a glance with Red, who shook his head solemnly. "We don't have the luxury of time. Those persistent InGen soldiers have a knack for rising early and diligently patrolling the streets. I'm genuinely surprised they haven't dispatched knife-wielding pursuers after us," he muttered, his teeth clenched in frustration.

I let out an exasperated huff. "I agree," I muttered, my gaze lingering on the path we had traveled earlier. A sudden chill ran down my spine, causing the quills on my back to stand on end in alarm.

"Let's go," Red growled impatiently, and I fell into step behind him, with Blue following closely at his tail.

-'๑'-

The sun beat down upon us as if it were punishing us for some unknown transgression. I gasped for breath, completely taken aback. I had never imagined that a desert terrain could exist in this vicinity.

"This is not... what I expected to find in or around a human settlement," Blue hissed, her breath coming in uneven gasps. I could only manage a feeble, "You can't be serious," as Blue shot me a plaintive look before tilting her snout toward the air, which was thick with the warmth of the arid desert, lush with moist cacti and other peculiar, sticky flora poking through the unforgiving earth.

"Wait, I smell..." she sniffed the air intently, "something." Her head turned towards Red, who had hunkered down beside a cactus adorned with a regal purple bloom, swarming with a buzzing congregation of flies. His sorrow-laden, crimson eyes seemed to weigh him down, and when I approached, he recoiled.

I let out an astonished gasp at what lay before me. It was an avian relic from a bygone era, a pterodactyl, or some prehistoric kin. "Poor creature," I murmured softly. Do you now sympathize with a celestial executioner? My mind retorted mockingly, and I hissed, thrusting my head towards him, and he responded with a pained moan.

"Yet, despite it all, I sense an impending presence; we must be getting closer, don't you think?" Blue clicked, swiveling her head in my direction. I nodded and moved away from the lifeless avian giant. "Let's go," I urged, plowing onward through the sand, which grew increasingly burdensome with each step.

Before long, my legs refused to carry me any further, and I crumpled onto my side. My chest pounded, my broken bones emitted a pungent odor, and the wounds throbbed with a relentless, fiery ache.

"Ripper, we need to rest," Red mumbled as he approached me. I shook my head, but even that simple gesture ignited a fresh wave of pain within me.

Red began to lick my oozing wounds once again, and I allowed him to do so. "Ripper is right, Red, but the sun is setting, and if we're not careful, InGen will come with their hounds after us," Blue muttered, joining us with her yellow eyes aglow with concern. I despised that look of hers. She shouldn't be worried about me.

"Don't worry," I grunted, forcing my body to work and stand up. But he wouldn't listen, just limped onward toward the ominous city in the distance that I could see on the horizon as the sky darkened.

"We have to keep going," I called over my shoulder before suddenly stumbling over something and crashing headfirst into the sand.

"Ripper!" Blue called out, and I heard the clicking of her claws against the ground as I soon felt her head nuzzle my flank. "You're growing weaker," she said, her words drawn out. "Yes," Red grunted and slid his head under my neck, coercing me back onto my feet, which trembled beneath me.

"You should stay here, and I'll go after Wu for you," he offered. I shook my head and growled, "I can't let you do that, Red. He'll only end up killing you."

"As if he won't do the same to you," Blue taunted.

"He won't," I reassured her, and began limping forward again. This time, my claws didn't catch on anything, and I managed to take a precarious step. "I'll kill him myself before he even lays a slimy paw on me."

Blue and Red sighed in resignation, and soon, they followed me. I smiled. It seems like Wu's death is just around the corner.