Ripper: An Indoraptor Story ✓

Returning II

"Please hold on Belle," I croaked, limping like a wounded deer through the thickets of the crimson forest, "Just hold on."

"It hurts still..."

"I know," I whimpered back, feeling my morality sink ever so deeper into my gut, "I know."

"I'm hurt," whimpered the girl, rubbing her soft face against my rough scales as if it were a tissue or a blanket that she could cry upon, "I want Mommy."

I felt a cold shudder rush over me as the memories flooded in, when the ground shook and the sky reeked of smoke and blood.

A sight that I created of course. And even still it haunted me. I nuzzled against her hold, feeling her snout press against my scales and drool out her sorrows. And I didn't mind her passion to weep upon my shoulders -- I was her friend, and as a friend, I promised to protect her. I simply wished that her parents had survived the explosion. I wished that I wasn't there to begin with, let alone intervene. 

I wished a lot of things.

And being so young, especially for her, it was heartbreaking enough to hide the truth of their deaths and the cruelty of the natural world from something born from a bittersweet past flowing of rainbows and joy.

How much unfortune must I bear? How can I live with the tranquil fact that it was I who had torn her apart, and all the same opened up my heart to her? Any other creature, dinosaur or human, could've done the same, but perhaps they'd gained luck and hope, and flourish like flowers, trekking the sacred earth untouched by evil. For me, it was I who was carrying evil and guilt on my spine, and it was this magnetic that has brought nothing but misery and grief into her life.

But no matter, I have a quest to fulfill. A quest, not of blood or of vengeance. Now I had a human to return to her kind.

The darkness had awakened quite suddenly across and above the tall tainted forest we were partially sheltered in. Another cloudy night rolled in from the east, covering the last of the twilight skies as if the blackness had failed to come fast enough. Each subtle cloud blanketed the windy heavens, hiding the moon in its full glory behind them. Yet the moon fought, oh how it fought an eternity to shine its light on the earth, although despite how much power it held the clouds still hung and stretched over the transparent sky, providing a hazy, ominous feel. Besides swallowing the moon whole, the rolling grey rapidly became as invisible as the stars it concealed, though the air still felt rather humid against our scales. The low sky imparted a claustrophobic tension and the only thing we figured to do is pray that we got to the location in time before seeking shelter from what may appear to be a midnight storm.

While there were certain times the clouds moved just enough to reveal the full moon, for the most part, the night would undoubtedly be without the benefit of the rock's silvery radiance.

Me, Blue, and Belle trekked endlessly through the wide and quiet forest, sniffing the air and watching the skies twist and shift from the light of the human world. The canopy let no light filter through the torches of trees, there was no sound. As I walked under the dark tresses of the trees my claws caressed the velvet flesh of the forest ground, bumping grass and crushing colorless flowers to the ground where I walked. It was surely beautiful despite the blackness, and while this was a matter of life and death, I nonetheless enjoyed the walk.

"We're here," Blue muttered upon the appearance of one small sized house. I lifted my head from my sightseeing tour and gazed in her direction at the light in the distance, glowing ever so steady as the leaves fluttered between its rays. Neither of my eyes were filled with fear or the sign of doubt, perhaps from being used to gunshots and the pain I've endured. I had no worry that another inflicted wound could be any worse than what I've already experienced; that is if I was prepared.