ROSES OF THE PAST : BOOK 2 | JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION

V - A Moment of Peace Before the Danger

As the sun sank below the barren, snowy landscape, the world around them became still and silent.

Snowflakes flitted gently down the ground, glimmering like little shards of opals in the little light that remained. A crunch sounded through the desolate woods, and Blue's feathered head shot up in alarm. Her beady yellow eyes scanned the undergrowth. She tucked herself closer to Beta, hoping to keep her shivering baby warm.

The crunch sounded again, but it was just a bird. Blue watched the tiny creature as it hopped along the knobbly roots of a tree, tucking its wings into the feathery body. She regarded it with a sense of curiosity and familiarity. It had feathers, beady eyes, erratic movements, and behaviour just like her. 

Beta was awake, staring wide-eyed at the bird. She raised her head jerkily, and gave a chirp at the animal. The bird froze, then took off on swift wings. Beta watched it leave, then went back to being curled up against her mother. Blue rested her chin on the top of her head and closed her eyes.

As Blue shivered and tried her best luck to forget the coldness and focus on their body heat, a sensation crept through her bones as she felt the unnatural shift in the world, like two universes colliding against one another. Indoraptor had returned to their world again.

He was curled up against the curve of her back, his soft skin pressed up against her feathers. Indoraptor moved slightly to scratch at his neck, frowning in discomfort and pain.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, turning her head to look at his face. 

He started to fade away for a moment, but gradually reappeared. The glow of his eyes were visible, even when his body wasn't. "I guess so," he replied. "I'm not going to get any better."

Guilt and worry pressed at her heart. Blue knew that she wasn't obligated to love Indoraptor, but with his 'life' depending on it, it had really felt like she was. Blue just hoped that Indoraptor could make that job easier for her, by improving on himself. And to his luck, he was improving.

The velociraptor nuzzled the crook of his neck with her snout. "I love you, Indoraptor."

His image became clearer at those words, and he looked taken-aback. "You do?" He choked, then continued. "Or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

Blue paused to think, gazing sadly at him. "I do mean it," she answered. "But I'm not sure how much."

Indoraptor looked a little crestfallen, but the pain in his eyes was subsiding. Wordlessly, he gazed back at her with longing and desperate adoration. He pressed closer to her, wrapping a tail around Blue and Beta. Then he looked away, down at the little velociraptor curled up against Blue's chest. "Does she know I'm here?"

"I'm not sure," Blue said. "I think she notices that something is off, but I don't think she's able to understand it yet." 

Indoraptor tipped his head at the baby with a look of protectiveness. Then he rested his head on the top of Blue's spine, looking as if he fit there perfectly, like he never belonged anywhere else. Blue had a sense of wondering, if the three of them looked like a family to an outsider's view.

They sat there for a while, relishing in the comfort of the moment. Snow painted Blue's and Beta's bodies, but none of them seemed to notice the cold snow. 

When Indoraptor broke the silence, his voice was soft. "I'm sorry."

Blue squinted at him, gazing into his warm eyes with tender sadness. "For what?"

He closed his eyes. "For making you have to worry about me," he murmured. "I didn't want you to feel responsible for loving me so I could 'live'. I feel selfish."

Her heart broke. He sounded like he was about to cry.

"Don't think like that," Blue murmured gently. She draped her tail across his. "I know you don't mean for it to feel like that."

"So it does feel like that?" Indoraptor asked, sounding even more broken.

"It did," she replied honestly. "But not anymore. You're becoming a better version of yourself, and I love you for it."

The hybrid smiled sadly and leaned closer to her. Blue could have sworn that she could feel the warmth radiating off of him. She thought back to how they would look to an outsider, and hoped, truly hoped, that they would become the family that they resembled.