Chapter Text
Owen could see them.
He let out a shout of joy when he saw the silhouettes of his parents and friends. He just needed to get to them but as soon as he managed to catch up to them, their content faces slowly morphed into one of horror and terror as they screamed and ran away from him. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when he was horrified to find out that the sound coming out of his mouth wasn’t his own when a series of animalistic barks and growls entered his ears.
He looked around to find something - anything - when he came across a clear mirror. It never occurred to him as to why there was even a mirror in the first place when there wasn’t before and was horrified to see the reflection staring back. Forest green reptilian eyes stared back at him as the creature hissed and seemingly let out a smug smirk before it roared and pounced.
Owen gasped himself awake and found himself lying in a dense coverage with dinosaurs surrounding him left and right. Upon closer inspection he recognized them as his girls and sighed with relief. Looking around the dense coverage and feeling slightly claustrophobic, Owen quietly got up and pushed through to get some fresh air.
He had no idea he was immediately spotted.
***
The stars were beautiful tonight.
Owen glanced up and let out a chitter. He remembered the days his family went out camping almost every weekend as a family thing as they sang campfire songs, read stories to each other and watched the stars until they fell asleep or dawn broke.
“Alpha?” He turned to see Blue making her way out of the dense coverage of their nest in the Raptor Paddock. “Are you alright?” Concern was clearly on her tone to which Owen replied with a reassuring one “I’m okay, just…thinking” At times like these Blue always felt like Alpha was so far away. 3 weeks after the soft meats were all gone, she and her sisters finally discovered the feeling of freedom after a few days of recuperation, away from walls and other restrictions. It was a novel experience for them and they all agreed they preferred it this way.
They had discussed prior to making a new nest somewhere else and not here in their old nest since their nest is merely walls and a clearing from beyond until they reached the forest area. They had gone looking for places to build a new nest but either the place was dangerous to build a nest or there were already signs of nests from other dinosaurs. Echo had opted to fight for the nesting area to which Alpha reprimanded her because there were young there.
Sometimes Blue thinks her Alpha is way too soft, unlike her and her sisters but that’s one of the reasons why she follows him and that trait is a rare thing in this area.
Alpha would make a great father.
The thought was so random and sudden that it jolted Blue out of her thoughts that such a random thought actually occurred to her. She glanced at Owen and the thought of him surrounded and teaching the young how to hunt made such a wonderful thought before Alpha gently nudged her with his snout.
"Come on, let's get some rest. We've got a whole day tomorrow" Blue chirped and walked right beside Alpha as they made their way back to the nest.
Tomorrow would be a new day of searching for a nest and hunting. They had a nice lunch but hadn't had their dinner yet so breakfast is going to be big.
***
Owen had only gotten a few hours of sleep before he opened his eyes again to see Echo looking down at him with an excited look on her face "Alpha! I was about to wake you for the morning hunt!" Owen hummed before standing up and let out a small yawn before standing up.
He could see that he was the last one up. The girls were already moving about, eyes darting to the forest edge that was surrounding the raptor paddock, dew claws tapping with slight impatience.
Owen shook the dirt off his body before barking at his girls "Alright girls, let's go hunting!" The girls barked as they all darted through the forest. The forest trees and flora were blurs of green, brown and black as they darted through, their noses tracking the nearest prey they could find. This would be considered their first proper hunt after their full recovery. Back then, Owen had been feeding his girls the leftover meat in the storage compartment and when that ran out, he opted to hunt for any leftover meat back in Main Street’s stores.
He quickly dashed that idea out when he scented the nesting site of the T-Rex there, so he went for the next option: dinosaurs, specifically Compies. He could hunt them on his own however he was still worried about other possible threats and dangers out in the open. Still, his girls take priority and other than sneaking his way back or circling around giant predators, Owen certainly got the hang of it sooner or later.
That and the fact that his girls seem to enjoy what he had given them, fresh meat instead of those in storage, gave him a sense of pride and accomplishment for the fact that he isn’t totally useless.
***
They came across a small clearing where dinosaurs with spike-like crests appeared (*Saurolophus), munching down some grasses; occasionally they would snack on berries they find. Hiding in the bushes, Owen felt that hunger coming back as his mouth salivated. Holding back a growl that was bubbling out, he scanned the dinosaurs, hoping for at least one dinosaur that looks injured or close to dying. Owen isn’t against killing, not entirely that is. He opted to hunt down those with injuries or nearing their end.
He refused to hunt the young, the healthy kind.
He made that policy after he decided to live with his girls here as a carnivorous raptor.
“A heavily injured one, close to the center” Blue was quick to spot when she noticed an injured young limping close to the herd, claw marks on the back indicated an attack before it escaped however the scent of blood could attract many predators, predators like them.
Owen and the rest immediately spotted the prey Blue pointed at and while Owen did wince at how young it looked he immediately pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He barked at his girls, discussing the plan of attack. Since the injured prey was clearly in the center, they had to make sure the injured prey was clear from the others.
With the plan set, they immediately broke away from each other. Keeping their forms lowered to the ground to blend in with the bushes, Owen and Blue and Charlie waited as the herbivores continued to munch and chew on their morning breakfast. Reptilian eyes narrowed once the herbivores finally moved to search for new patches of grass, clearing a path for the injured dinosaur with its head lowered, unaware.
Now!
65 million years of instincts kicked in as Owen, Blue and Charlie charged like bullet trains to their prey. Blue quickly jumped on its back and aimed her attacks on the injuries, spilling out more blood. Owen aimed at the neck, making sure to prevent the animal from rearing and throwing Blue off. Charlie aimed at one of its legs and tore off quite a section of meat.
Quickly noticing the sudden attack, the Saurolophus dinosaurs all roared and started to turn around to run. Echo and Delta quickly moved to attack as they helped Charlie into subduing the dinosaur. Seeing that its death was apparent, the poor dinosaur let out one last roar before it fell, Owen quickly tore off its neck before it could feel any more pain.
Letting his human side take a back seat, his raptor side purred hummingly as he tore through the meat and bones of the dead dinosaur though he avoided looking at the lifeless eyes of the dinosaur, not wanting to feel any more discomfort than he already was.
This is the law of dinosaurs. If you get injured and attacked, don't even think about calling for help from others that will suffer the same fate. Dinosaurs leave behind the injured to save their own and as much as Owen dislikes that kind of thinking, he knows it's just millions of years of survival instincts kicking in. An instinct he would very much ignore if his girls are in any danger.
They ate quickly, the scent of blood would soon alert other predators other than themselves to this location so Owen gave the girls and himself close to an hour of devouring before he barked at them that it was time to leave.
No sooner had they left, Carnotaurus dinosaurs entered the scene.
***
With such a successful hunt and with nothing to do for the day, they opted to search for new nesting sites where they would most likely settle down. While Blue and her sisters made a nest in the raptor paddock, they didn’t like the constant gazes of soft meat. It raised their guard almost every time and they only tolerated it because Alpha was there otherwise, they might have attacked anything that moved.
“Almost all possible nesting grounds are occupied” Blue huffed in frustration. Owen understands her frustration. He's frustrated too. Despite the raptor paddock serving as their nesting area, it stands out too much.
Predators by nature are curious creatures and when they see something that stands out too much, they inspect it in search of potential game. Owen doesn't want his girls to be in constant guard now that they are free.
Charlie suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. The others stopped as well and gave her questioning noises. "This smell…" Charlie suddenly barked before she darted off to another direction.
"Charlie!" Owen roared before he ran after her. The girls followed soon after. They followed Charlie to an unused path before stopping their tracks once they realized where they were.
Delta, Blue and Echo let out growls of anger when the old scent of the I-Rex hit their olfactory senses. Owen simply grimaced as he stared at the original Visitor's Center of Jurassic Park.
"Charlie, why did you lead us here?" Delta hissed. She did not want to stay here longer than she should have. Charlie barked before walking straight inside. Despite the dilapidated state it was in, a reminiscence of the battle that took place here both when it was still operational and when they escaped the I-Rex, Owen could not help but feel awe and wonder.
This place is where it all began.
"Don't you see?" Charlie said which confused the group "See what? That we are standing in the grounds of where the Killer almost had us?" Delta barked with a low growl. It was uncomfortable for all four girls to discuss what exactly happened here. They had no clue as to what happened but they were betrayed by their instincts to trust a dinosaur that would undoubtedly be their end had they followed her. The fact that it was so easy for them to think of betraying their Alpha is what made them uncomfortable.
“I mean this looks like a perfect place to make our new nest ” Charlie stated which earned looks from all of her sisters, with the exception of Echo. Delta and Blue surveyed the area “What do you think Delta?” Blue asked, hoping to hear from her sister’s judgment for a second opinion.
Before Delta could answer, there was a pained screech coming from a poor dinosaur. All eyes turned to Echo whose snout was on the bushes. She straightened up to reveal a dead Compy on her mouth. “I think I like it here, plenty of small prey to snack on” Blue and Delta could feel themselves slightly annoyed by Echo.
Owen glanced around and took note of the dense coverage suitable for hiding and other stuff that could be used for making a nest. Owen glanced at the walls that seemed like it could protect them enough from outside forces and the roof from dinosaurs from the sky, something the raptor paddock doesn’t have.
“Alpha?” Blue’s voice made him turn to see his beta looking at him questioningly “It's not that much but this looks like a suitable place to build a nest” Owen said to which Delta barked out an agreement. Charlie and Echo chirped as they raced around the area, jaws snapping at Compies who quickly ran away at the sight of two raptors. Blue glanced at the area one more time. It wasn’t like they were in the forest but they were completely surrounded and this place feels like a familiar presence like in their old nest.
Owen and Blue glanced at one another before they stared back at the Visitor’s Center of the original Jurassic World Park.
They finally have a proper nest.