Be the Dinosaur: Mission Accomplished

Looks like my first story (here) was well received, and since a couple of users have requested a series, I decided to do so.  I call it "Be the Dinosaur", which will give a first "dinosaur" point of view during key moments in all the Jurassic Park movies.

This is the second installment.  I bet you can figure out who is providing the point of view.  I will take requests for future installments in the comment section or in a PM, but I will have to let users know when I can make them, as my own schedule in real life is hectic.  There won't be a set timetable for new stories, so pardon me.

Here we go:

Mission accomplished

We’re still on the trail for the eggs that were stolen from my nest.  My children were snatched from our pack.  If we didn’t find them soon, they would die.  Fortunately the rest of the pack was guarding the nest site so that no more eggs would be stolen.

The five of us sniffed along the trail in the jungle.  We have been tracking the Nest Thieves for a couple of days now, and had encountered them at least once.  One of them had been killed by my eldest son, and we had almost killed another, but the dark air came out of nowhere and burned our throats.  We had to abandon the hunt, and regroup later.

We had to change our route several times though, because Angry One was also tracking the Nest Thieves.  She was one of the most powerful creatures on the island, and scared us away.  I ordered the pack to stand down from her each time in the past 2 days, because it was better to stay alive and get the eggs than to die at her claws and teeth.  The ultimate goal was to get back my eggs.

Suddenly, my mate and three sons raced away, leaving me alone in the jungle.  At first, I was confused, but soon their loud squawks made it perfectly clear.

“WE FOUND THEM!”

I entered the clearing tall and strong, with my tail and head held high to show these cowards that I was the alpha, and they should fear me.  They would not want to feel the wrath of an angry mother who would do anything to get her eggs back.

Then I saw the female of the group.  As the Nest Thieves crouched down in submission, the look of fear on her face intrigued me.  Something about her made me think that we shared something in common.  I walked over to her, and looked her deep in the eye.

She was a mother like me.

She knew exactly how I felt for my own family.  She and I would do anything for the family, and we needed them like they needed a mother and a mate.  Maybe she was looking to add more to her pack?  Could she no longer bear hatchlings and was looking to adopt?  The only youngling in her pack was her son, and normally we would have several hatchlings in our tow.

Whatever the reason, I felt sorry for scaring her.  Being a mother is a tough job, and I always respect them.  That is one reason why our pack never killed mother prey.  I feel very sad for them if we killed one of their offspring, but we need to feed the pack as well.  But that way, they would always be around to have more offspring.

As I leaned in to nuzzle her, so that she would know that I understand the motherly desire to care for offspring, one of the adult males tried to get between us.

“GO AWAY!” I hissed.  This was no time for males being nosy. 

I gently nuzzled the female, comforting her.  She needed a mutual understanding to be established between us, and that even though her motherly desires were noble, she still had to give back my unhatched younglings.

“GIVE ME THE EGGS!” I squawked.  

Then, my mate called out.  The dusty male had opened his black pouch, which contained my eggs!  My three sons called out as well, to let the neighbouring pack know that we found what we were looking for.  We had to ask them to enter their territory because the Nest Thieves had entered it.  Normally our kind stays in our own territories, and under normal circumstances, intruders would be chased out.  Even on the fringes of the marked area, our kind wouldn’t allow it.  But because my mate and I were desperate to find our young, and agreed to leave immediately after, the alphas allowed us to enter.  But we had to let them know when we found our eggs, so that they didn’t think we were trying to occupy their territory as well.  On this island, space is limited, so we had to leave once our goal was achieved.

“GENTLY DEAR!” I told the female as the dusty male handed her my future children.  She never broke eye contact with me, which assured me that she got my message across loud and clear.  And like I told her too, she gently put the eggs in the sand.

But a loud aggressive roar rang out that made my mate and I jerk our heads back in surprise and confusion; the dusty male was blowing into a bone and sounded exactly like one of us!  

“GO AWAY!” he shrieked.

“WHAT?!  THEY TALK LIKE US!” cried my youngest son.

“SO CREEPY…AWESOME!” cawed my second-eldest.

“HOW DARE HE TALK BACK!” chirped my eldest son.

My mate swore harshly at the dusty male.

It seemed like the dusty male understood what my males said, and he started to call for help.  Whenever a rival did that, it always turned ugly, because it meant a vicious battle would commence.  All I wanted was to get my eggs, and leave the pack alone.  There was no need to call in more troops.

“HE’S CALLING IN REINFORCEMENTS!  THIS MEANS WAR!” my eldest son barked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mate rush towards the Nest Thieves.  He was a protective and loyal mate, who became aggressive when it came to attacking rivals and prey.  He vowed before we set out to search for our eggs that he would kill those egg-nappers once we got them back in our claws.  I felt the same way, but after seeing how frightened the mother was, I couldn’t let them get hurt.  She had a family to protect and provide for, and she gave our eggs back without fuss.  We all would walk away peacefully from this standoff.

“DON’T YOU DARE!” I screeched, and he backed off, with his head hunched over and his handsome quills flat.  I love my mate, but he is too trigger-happy sometimes.

Then something overhead caught my attention.  It sounded like distant thunder.  Storms on this island were harsh, especially on the coast, and with the impending threat of more Nest Thieves coming, it was time to leave quickly.  In fact, when I turned to my youngest son, he cooed the way he always did when a storm was on its way.

“MOM, WE GOTTA GO!”

I told my sons to start heading home, and they dashed off into the jungle.  My mate and I stayed behind to pick up our future raptorlings and carry them back to our territory.  Since I used my mouth, I couldn’t speak to the Nest Thief female, so I looked at her in order to give my farewells.  Then, my mate and I charged into the thick vegetation, desperate to get the eggs back into their warm nests.

Mission accomplished.