Awakening in the Jungle 2

Rhaxx was woken up. He had been monitoring his sister's health all night, and was tired from lack of sleep. Snap. Somewhere outside, one of the branches he had scattered, to warn them of impending attack, had been broken. He cautiously crept outside.

There was a Deinonychus, and a strange looking human. He quietly pulled the raptor talon from his pouch, preparing to go after the Deinonychus first, because he posed the only real threat. After all, his companion was only a human. Easily taken care of. Rhaax ran from the cave, preparing to do battle with the raptor. He thrust the claw out, to spear the raptor through the chest, but something stopped him. The human had dared to grab his wrist. He tried to pull the hand with the weapon away, put the boy, even though younger and human had a grip like a vise. Rhaax snarled and tried to yank his hand away, intent on killing the raptor. The boy's response was a smile, and his grip grew tighter. There was a sharp CRACK and Rhaax dropped the talon as pain shot through his arm. A human had done this, a boy at that! As if reading Rhaax's mind, the boy said, "That's right, I'm not human..."

The pain shot through his wrist and radiated into his shoulder, momentarily numbing his understanding of what had happened. But Rhaax had learned to deal with pain; to stuff it down, into a place deep inside where it could not be felt and would not impede his survival.

Even so, the wrist was broken. The strange boy stood before him, a peevish look upon his face as though to mock one who enjoyed nothing better than a game of matched wits. And the deinonychus stood unscathed.

He felt their eyes upon him, as he went for the trees which would shelter him until he had a plan. They would turn their attentions to her, to his sister. Rhaax snorted, a cynical scowl crossing his face as he settled in a treetop, far from their view.

They will think they've "rescued" her, he thought. Check her wounds and console her. At some point, they will let down their guard.

But a thought had crept into the mind of Rhaax, most dangerous human in the Rainy Basin. Like an annoying insect, that buzzes 'round your head and avoids swatting: just what was that boy, who could snap a wrist with so little effort?

The agitated voices awakened her. Slowly, Pazu sat up. The pain in her side no longer held her down, but she had not as yet tried to walk. She heard her male protector growl and threaten, and then cry out. Slowly, the girl traced her hands up the side of the cave, using its rocky surface to draw her to her feet.

The pain dug sharply with each breath. Using a hand to splint her injury, Pazu walked unsteadily toward the entrance of the cave, lured by the voices and commotion beyond. With the transition from darkness inside the cave and daylight beyond its threshold, Pazu found it even more difficult to cope with the increasing pain in her right side. Her eyes refused to focus, but as she staggered beyond the mouth of the cave, a familiar voice cried out, as the world about her began to fade.

"Pazu, it me, C'xoila," the Deinonychus cried, moving quickly to her side and scooping her up before she fell to the ground.

With Ness at his heels, C'xoila returned the injured Skybax apprentice to the quiet darkness of the cave, and carefully settled her back into her leafy bed.

"You . . .here?" the girl grabbed his arm and tried to regain her legs, but her world appeared to be spinning, holding her down. Kneeling beside her, C'xoila felt helpless to calm and reassure her.

"He'll be back . . ." Pazu gasped, her left hand firmly gripping the raptor's arm. A chuckle shifted her focus to C'xoila's companion, and she directed some comments at him. "Not funny . . ." she gasped, "He is . . ."

"What?" Ness chuckled, ignoring C'xoila's look of consternation. "Gone? He is gone, or afraid? Is he afraid . . . or perhaps in pain? Yes! He is most definitely in pain! Ha ha!"

Pazu, now fully awake, stared open-eyed and slack-jawed at the creature before her, and began to speak, slowly and deliberately, hoping her words would neutralize his playful disrespect.

"No. You don't understand," she attempted to catch his eyes in hers as she spoke, and noticed that their color shifted and danced. And while her mind asked, "who is this creature that accompanies my friend C'xoila?" her words attempted to explain the creature that had saved her from the allosaur and given her his tender care.

Returning her focus to her friend, Pazu spoke: "His name is Rhaax, C'xoila," she whispered. "And he's my long-lost brother."

Ness immediately stopped laughing. He lowered his head and said, "I am sorry for laughing. It was not kind. I was merely stopping him from attacking C'xoila. If I had really wanted to harm him, I could have ripped his arm off." The skybax rider and the Deinonychus just looked at their strange companion.

In a soft voice, Pazu asked, "Ness, what exactly are you?"

He answered, "R'tha J'Teari; I am J'Teari."

The nonhuman rose to his feet, and began to walk out of the cave. Weakly, Pazu raised herself on one elbow, "Ness, what..."

He waved her comment away and said, "There is time to talk about that later. Right now, I think the best think for me to do is find your brother. Tough I did what I did in self-defense, I laughed at his expense, and therefore must try to make amends. It is our way."

He took several more steps before Pazu stopped him again. "But you do not know him! He will kill you!"

Ness smiled, his eyes appearing to be lit from behind. With a bragging tone, he then said, "Don't worry. A J'Teari is five times as strong as any human. I will not get hurt."

Pazu stopped him one final time, "Well, then don't hurt him!" The not-human smiled and nodded, then walked away into the darkness.

Rhaax awoke as he heard the snap of a twig. He sat high in a tree, far from that strange not-human and his raptor companion. How dare he mess with he or his sister! They would pay. He smiled wickedly in his sleep as he dreamt of leading a group of Tyrannosaurs to do away with those pests. He then thought of the boy, his white hair and disconcerting eyes. He may look like a human, but he possessed great, hidden, strength.

Again, another twig snapped. Rhaxx opened his eyes, his normal eyes. He never slept deeply, a trait developed through necessity. Rhaxx peered down from his tree. The nonhuman was below him. Alone, though, he thought, the nonhuman was formidable enough. Rhaax readied himself, and sprung from his hiding place. He landed squarely on the youth's shoulders, knocking him to the ground. Even better, thought Rhaax, his head had come down on a rock.

Ness was stunned only for a second, then rose to his feet, Rhaax still on top of him. The J'Teari threw him to the ground. There was a long cut across the boy's head, which had started to bleed.

The sight of blood had never bothered Rhaax before, in fact, he loved to watch a bloody battle, and to get involved. The sight he saw now though, made him flinch: the youth's blood was green. The nonhuman with the green blood reached down and grabbed Rhaax's hide vest. With unnatural ease, the boy lifted him so that his foe's feet were a foot off the ground. The youth now wore a bitter smile, and said, "I wish you hadn't have done that. Your sister told me not to harm you. Wouldn't want to make me break my promise, would you?"

Rhaax snarled in reply, "If you were forbidden to kill me, then why would you come to hunt me out?"

In a casual tone, Ness said, "You remember our first encounter? When I grabbed your wrist? I could have, if I so desired, killed you. I could have ripped your arm from its socket."

"Then why did you not?" growled Rhaax.

The nonhuman shrugged, "Because it is not in my nature. Because my race has not taken a life in ten million years. Because it was not necessary at the time. All are true. Take your pick."

Rhaax replied, "Then why have you sought me out, you still have not given me a reason."

Ness nodded and said, "No, but I have told you what I have not come to do. I'm not sorry I broke your wrist; I was merely defending my friend. But I did make fun of your pain, which was wrong." Ness had set Rhaax down, and they sat cross-legged in the soil.

"I make fun of other's pain everyday," he said.

Ness nodded solemnly and said, "But I do not, it is not our way. I have come to offer my apologies."

The two not-humans stared at each other, and Rhaax said, "While I do not accept or even try to understand your beliefs, I do accept your apology. I to understand the necessity for defense."

The two had reached a common ground.

Perched in a tree, Rhaax kept his eyes upon the creature until the dense jungle foliage appeared to consume him. Ness was returning to his friend, the raptor, and to Pazu. Shaking his head, as though removing a thought in regard to his sister, Rhaax slipped to the jungle floor. The raptor and his odd companion could have her, Rhaax decided. Despite the obvious physical differences, they were more like her than was he.

Swiftly, he sped through the jungle, his mind replaying the time spent with the odd, human-like creature with physical strength which surpassed his own. At the edge of the swamp, Rhaax stopped. Picking his way through the reeds at the water's edge, he squatted at a muddy spot and plunged his right hand deep into its cool wetness.

Rhaax, child of the jungle, sighed with deep relief as the cool, wet mud of a Rainy Basin swamp took the sting from his broken wrist. But as the pain in his wrist subsided, another began to swell with an acuity that promised to be greater than the pain of broken bones.

He was thinking of Pazu, and how she would, no doubt, soon leave the jungle with those who had come to retrieve her.

Pulling his hand from the mud, Rhaax gave his wrist a shake, permitting pain to return with ferocious intensity. Blocking the other, which lodged in his heart: memories of loss. Losing Pazu. Losing his mother...

The intensity of the pain in his wrist snuffed the flickers of softness, which had formed with the return of this girl to his life, and fanned the fires of his rage. So the white-haired boy with the strange eyes didn't kill, except to protect a friend... and the friend was a raptor, like many Rhaax had killed before...

They will pay… he thought, springing to his feet. And he set off in the direction of the tyrannosaur clan, the throbs of pain in his broken wrist matching his footfalls on the jungle floor. ...and she will stay, he continued thinking, as a plan began to form...

Stouthorn woke up in the early Dinotopian morning. They say no eggs roll out of the nest, but it was mornings like this that made even humans wonder why anyone would even want to roll out. Though young, Stouthorn was known for his wisdom, and that is why he was called, simply enough, Stouthorn the Wise. He also commanded a lot of respect because of his lineage: He was the direct line of the Chandaran Emperors. His ancestors gained their power from a human king, and ruled for 2,000 years. Stouthorn himself also earned a lot of his respect, as he bravely joined many caravans into the Rainy Basin, and was forced to impale many a carnosaur with his three long horns. Today was no different, as he walked off to meet with the armored saurapods.

Ness Tamrill made an un-spectacular entrance into the cave.

"Ness!" exclaimed Pazu, "What happened? Did you talk with my brother?"

Ness pointed to the cut on his head, "What do you think? He jumped me."

Pazu and C'xoila grimaced at the sight of the boy's green blood. "You, you didn't hurt him, did you?" stammered Pazu.

Ness shook his head, "I threw him from me. That's all. He said he accepted my apology, but I don't believe he trusts C'xoila and me."

Pazu nodded sadly, "That means that he'll try to kill you again."

Ness sat down, ignoring the cut across his forehead. He was deep in thought. This Rhaax was troubling him. He was like no one Ness had ever met. Though the human-people of Waterfall City weren't of his species, they were nice enough, and shared the same code of ethics and morals that the J'Teari did.

This human, however, was totally outside Ness' realm of experience. He followed no code, written or not, and was generally homicidal. Ness shook his head sadly. What he wanted now, more then anything else was to be home. Not Waterfall City, not earth. His home, his family, his friends. He looked towards C'xoila and Pazu and smiled. They were his friends, to be sure, but he missed the familiar atmosphere of J'Teari. He remembered his last birthday party with his family. He had been 213 then, now he was 263 years old. He had spent 50 years stranded here! Not that here was a bad place, just that he missed his real home... He drew his attention back towards Rhaax. What was he planning???

Mathaira, Thistlebud, and Maia felt considerably safer now that they had the protection of the young tyrannosaur Whiptail, son of Greyback the Fierce. They felt confident that they would reach the tyrannosaur clan before nightfall.

What Whiptail did not reveal to his companions was that the tyrannosaur clan had many enemies in this territory, mainly a hostile Allosaur clan, the same clan that had abducted him as a hatchling. Fortunately, he had been rescued by a human-creature called Rhaax, and returned to the clan.

In spite of this rescue and in spite of Rhaax's relationship with the tyrannosaur clan, Whiptail still did not trust this particular human-creature, not like he had always trusted Mathaira. From the time she had placed her own neckchain around him, and despite their different species and communication difficulties, a special bond had been formed between Whiptail and Mathaira.

Knowing of Rhaax's detest for humans and sensing that Rhaax was somewhere in the tyrannosaur clan's territory Whiptail was extra vigilant as the group traveled. He vowed to himself that he would protect Mathaira and her friends, both from the Allosaur clan and from the human-creature whom he did not trust.

Absentmindedly, Rhaax began to massage the injured wrist. He could see them now, advancing toward the tree wherein he was perched. Soon they would be within range. Rhaax didn't need the pain in his wrist to assist his rage. Hatred swelled inside him, as he focused his eyes on the little band.

How he hated them: these simpering humans and their weakling subservient "partners!" He wanted to spit from the tree at the sight of them, but that would alert them to his presence.

So, Greyback has sent his son to escort them, he thought, as he shifted his back against the tree trunk, and shook his head. A definite sign of weakness: reliance on humans and those who share their world.

Rhaax recognized the woman and her two dinosaur companions, and knew this would not be a good time to approach. Let the tyrannosaur clan defile themselves with those who are not of the basin.

As the small troupe of hatchery workers and their tyrannosaur guide passed beneath him, Rhaax began to formulate a new plan. And as the plan unfolded inside his head, a smile spread across his face.

The arrival of the hatchery workers was not only a sign of weakness on the part of Greyback's clan, but a signal that his guard would be down: his focus would be on his mate and their hatchling. Quietly, Rhaax slid to the ground, using his broken wrist as though he felt no pain, for indeed, he did not. The plan had changed: the game would have new players. And the rush if sheer excitement that he felt cancelled the pain in his wrist as it fueled the rage in his heart.

This would be a game Rhaax would indeed enjoy. He would get his Allosaur enemies to do his dirty work for him. An evil grin spread across his face. He would ask Pazu to follow him somewhere and then would abandon her, for the time being. He would then go deep into allosaur territory, taunting them, and they would follow. He would lead them to the raptor and his nonhuman friend. They would take care of them.

The small group of hatchery workers followed Whiptail through the dense foliage of the Rainy Basin. Darkness was fast approaching, arriving here sooner than on other parts of the island. They must reach their destination before nightfall!

Sensing a presence other than that of their own group, Whiptail dropped back from his lead to allow the slower, weaker members of the party to catch up. Noticing the change in his attitude, Mathaira, Thistlebud, and Maia drew closer to him, grateful for his presence and for his strength. The tightly formed group continued to travel, though at a much faster pace than before.

After several hours of strenuous travel, the group reached their destination. The home of the tyrannosaur clan! In this section of the Rainy Basin, nature had formed a very large "cave" of sorts. The entrance was well hidden by an overgrowth of branches. Thick trees growing closely together formed the roof and walls of the "cave". The center clearing was softened by moss underfoot and by fallen jungle leaves on the ground.

As Whiptail and his companions strode through the clearing members of the tyrannosaur clan welcomed them. Greyback approached to greet them, however the three hatchery workers immediately noted the absence of his mate, Swiftclaw. Through Thistlebud, Greyback expressed his concern for Swiftclaw, for she was again having difficulty with the laying of her egg. Following Greyback to his mate, the hatchery workers, along with Greyback and Whiptail, focused their attention on Swiftclaw.

Slowly, Kamikazi opened his eyes. The wounds in his neck had stopped throbbing, but he felt too weak to lift his head. Not that he would, even if he could. The allosaur stood over him, its head cocked, while one of his large, yellow eyes seemed to pin the wounded skybax to the ground.

I will lie quietly, and maybe he won't finish me....yet, the great bird thought, his mind drifting to thoughts of Pazu. Must find you, Partner... must help you...

And across the jungle, inside a cave, a young apprentice skybax rider bolt upright.

"Kami...," Pazu whispered. "I have the strangest feeling, C'xoila.... Kamikazi is here, in the jungle someplace. And he's in pain...."

C'xoila glanced at Ness, whose oddly colored eyes were fixed intently on Pazu's worried face. "You got feeling 'bout this?" the raptor directed at his alien friend.

Ness walked to the cave's entrance and stood, as though feeling the direction of the wind. Then he turned to his companions, lowered his head, and sighed. "I can do this," he said softly, "And you might as well come along with me... chances are, that is your safest choice."

Taking hold of the hand C'xoila offered her, Pazu rose to her feet. "I really don't know what's going on here," she said, her voice cracking.

"It-a be okay..." C'xoila whispered, as he gently assisted the girl to the mouth of the cave. "We gotta special kind-a frien' here," the raptor added, as he smiled and nodded at Ness.

Watching through a haze of pain, the great pterosaur thought, at first, that he might be dreaming. But later, when he lay with his head cradled in Pazu's lap, Kamikazi reflected on the events and decided what had happened was real...

The initial mistake had been his: swooping low, he clung to the feeling of Pazu that was leading him into an area of rocks and caves. Locked into this feeling as he drew nearer to her, Kami dropped his guard. Suddenly, he was pinned to the jungle floor, an allosaur's foot on his body and its teeth in his neck.

But he was wrong to assume that he would soon be the creature's lunch. While his thoughts were upon Pazu, forming a mental "good-bye, my dear friend", he felt his body hoisted onto the back of the allosaur and watched while trees rapidly receded from an upside-down position.

He was about to drift into a peaceful unconsciousness, liberating him from the painful jostling he endured with each thud of the allosaur's feet on the jungle floor. But Kami felt his body slip from the allo's grip, and he slid down its back, to hit the damp jungle floor with a painful splat. Once again about to lose consciousness, angry voices drew his attention and kept him from mentally fading from the scene.

Another creature spoke to the allosaur, in its own language. This puzzled Kamikazi, leading him to believe he might be dreaming, for the strange new creature appeared human in nearly every way. He seemed to be a young adult male, very coarse in appearance, and smelling of the jungle: Kami detected no human scent upon him. And he spoke the allosaur language with the proficiency of another allosaur. Kamikazi, who knew a few simple phrases of allo, picked up snatches of the conversation.

"Bighead," the rough human shouted, "I see you found (not understandable). Do you hope to regain your position with your pack with this (something like 'worthless find')?"

"Rhaax" (this appeared to be the human's name), the allo roared, stretching his body to full height, "How good of you to join me (at which point, he let forth an insidious throaty chuckle).

The skybax watched as Rhaax strutted past Bighead, appearing equal to him in strength, and came to where Kami had fallen from the allo's back.

"You believe this (allo profanity) skybax will appease your pack?" Rhaax snarled, as he appeared to kick Kami's tail. "The feathers even look…" (something derogatory which the skybax understood only from tone of voice). Rhaax leaned over him, and while appearing to examine his feathers, whispered to Kamikazi in the language of the humans, "I assume you are Pazu's skybax. Be still, and you will not be harmed."

"What's that...?" the allosaur roared, "Are you...?"

Kami failed to follow the rest of the conversation, but assumed Bighead overheard the words of caution Rhaax had directed toward his intended prey and suspected some sort of trick. Perhaps the allo was accustomed to being tricked by this human, or perhaps the human seemed a more valuable prize than a skybax; Kami didn't know. But he knew Rhaax was in trouble.

Before the human could take a defensive stance, the allosaur was upon him, his feet holding him to the ground and his muzzle pressed against Rhaax's face. The skybax cringed at the sight of sharp allo teeth raking human skin, as the claws of Bighead's hands dug into the boy's neck.

Kamikazi tried to raise himself from the ground. He was pledged to help his human friends, and this boy knew his partner's name ... But all he could do was flap aimlessly on the ground, crippled by allosaur wounds the helpless human would soon share.

Kamikazi watched, cringing, as Bighead prepared to inflict a fatal bite to Rhaax's head. But a strange sound made the creature direct his attention toward the jungle behind him, and Kamikazi strained to get a glimpse of what it was...

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