Jurassic Park Broken Lives

Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park, its characters, or any of its ideas.

Chapter 1: Disaster at the Nest

Silver Claw, a juvenile velociraptor of the Western ridge pack, swiftly made his way through the dense brush of Isla Sorna. His sleek body and muscular legs allowed him to move easily between trees and brush. A long neon stripe ran from the scales behind his deep red eyes to the tip of his tail. Eleven feathers sat at the base of his skull behind dark blue crests and triangular head.

He slowed slightly and jumped onto a log. He glanced back to see the brush moving and a triangular head emerge. It was another velociraptor. As ithissed at him, Silver Claw leapt off the log and surged deeper into the jungle and away from his pursuer.

The heavy smell of flowering foliage and damp earth filled the air. The distant calls of large creatures echoed through the jungle and light footsteps sounded closely behind. The area surrounding him was a lush green though the constant aura of danger hung heavily amongst the trees.

He emerged into a small glade and quickly ducked behind a fallen tree to the far right side of the glade to conceal himself from view. He pressed himself tightly against the mossy surface of the tree. Slowly, he lifted his head enough to see above the rounded surface and out over the glade beyond.

With a low growl, a young female velociraptor, only about a year old, emerged into the glade. She was as tall as Silver Claw but lacked his coloration. Instead of dark blue scales, this female had glossy white scales with intermingling black spots. Her body was slender in form, but even though she would not be an adult for a few years yet, she could take down herbivores twice her size with her powerful muscles and razor sharp claws that could tear through the thick hides of her prey with relative ease.

"I know you're here Silver Claw," she said. The way she said it though was demonic and unnerving. She scanned the area with amber eyes, "I will find you."

Silver Claw remained motionless as the female's nostrils flared taking in the scents from the surrounding area. Slowly her head turned to look at the fallen tree behind which Silver Claw was hiding. With a graceful, catlike manner, she moved towards the log with a birdlike bobbing of her head, calculative and wary.

The female velociraptor was close, so close in fact that her every breath was as clear as a cold stream heading to the ocean. Silver Claw prepared to pounce. His muscles tensed as her approaching footsteps grew steadily louder and once the female velociraptor was close enough, he jumped up. With his dagger like teeth baring their white polished form and slick black claws slashing vigorously at the air in front of him presented a with a ferocious shriek, the female fell to the ground in a startled shriek of her own.

"That was not funny!" The female snared, obviously shaken.

"Oh yes it was, Sophia." Silver Claw chirped, "I wish you could have seen the expression on your face."

Sophia slowly stood up and shook her head, shedding some of the moist soil from the light rain earlier in the day that had clung to her body. The white scales that covered her body her were distorted to one side of her body from a film of black soil and several leaves. Sophia let out a loud screech and pounced at Silver Claw, sending him to the ground. She placed her foot upon his head and pushed down. Her head perked up proudly and she looked at him creating an affectionate purr.

Silver Claw only rolled his eyes. "It was a cheap shot Sophia and you know it."

"Oh really," Sophia cocked her head. She placed more weight onto Silver Claw.

He squirmed but she had him stuck. "Ok, you win." Silver Claw sighed. "Would you let me up now?"

Sophia snorted in acceptance and lifted her foot off his head. "That was simple, wasn't it?"

Silver Claw shook his scales clean and looked at Sophia. He smiled, "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Sophia replied and brushed off the remaining dirt. She tucked her arms against her body and licked her claws clean.

"Well, we could go to the stream." Silver Claw said after some thought and tilted his head slightly. "I'm thirsty and we could get a snack along the way maybe."

"Ok." Sophia smiled and started to run. "Race you there!"

"Hey, no fair," he shouted and ran after her. Through the dense brush between them, he lost sight of Sophia but her scent was easy enough to follow.

Within several minutes of running, he reached the stream. A large muddy bank surrounded the meter wide stream. Fresh footprints lined either side. Thick bushes lined the bank edge. Sophia was nowhere in sight.

"If you're trying to scare me it isn't going to work. You can come out now."

"I wasn't trying to scare you," Sophia emerged from the bushes to his right. "You passed me because I found this." She added and lifted up her right hand with little green dinosaur in it.

"Oh, ok." Silver Claw said and turned to drink while Sophia finished her meal.

"So…what do you want to do now?" Sophia asked in her soft sweet tone and sat down, chewing on the soft-bodied compsognathus.

"One moment," Silver Claw replied, fixated on the water's surface. Slowly he moved his head towards the water, careful not to make any sudden movements. He lunged, snapping his jaws shut with a splash. Blood pooled around his mouth and with quick snap of his head, he threw a catfish onto a nearby rock. He stepped on the flailing fish and sank his teeth into the gut.

He pulled a large slab of flesh off and tossed back his head. He shifted his jaws slightly. "That wasn't the best thing I've tasted."

"Why?" Sophia curiously lifted her head, swallowing the rest of her prey. Droplets of blood dripped from her jaws.

"It was bland and slimy," Silver Claw said but sank his teeth back into the fish.

"And yet you eat it," Sophia laughed.

Silver Claw looked up. His scales dyed red. "What do you want to do after this?"

"I know!" Sophia said suddenly and excitedly. "We can go to that human thing."

"Hey, yeah there's always something to do there." Silver Claw chirped, enthused by her suggestion. "We had better go to the nests first though."

"Yeah, I guess we should." Sophia sighed. "We don't want to get in trouble like last time."

Suddenly in the distance, a thunderous roar sounded through the jungle. The fierce calls of the pack quickly followed. Sophia and Silver Claw looked at one another, horrified at what they could hear. Their breathing quickened as the calls of the pack continued. Both suddenly surged towards the nests. Despair and fear filled them as the jungle became quiet.

They passed through denser foliage and nearly collided with several trees or tripped on roots. Suddenly they emerged into the nesting grounds and froze.

Before them, the nesting area was in pieces. Lifeless bodies of the pack lay scattered about, several missing. Some disemboweled bodies were already swarming with flies. The trampled nests had eggshells crushed and partially grown infants lying limp. Large footprints covered the area. Sophia stumbled backwards and to the ground.

"They're gone… all of them." Sophia cried.

A light groan came from somewhere. A body moved near the edge of the nesting site and a head rose slowly."The…the…the spinosaur came out of nowhere it…" the velociraptor said deliriously. It was not clear whether the velociraptor was speaking to itself or to Silver Claw and Sophia. The female velociraptor's head collapsed back to the ground and a huge crocodilian snout suddenly emerged out from the trees to grab the fallen raptor.

"MOM," Sophia screamed. A sickening crack followed as the spinosaur bit down on the body.

Sophia trembled as the spinosaurus turned towards her, holding the limp form of Sophia's mother in its mouth. Silver Claw pushed Sophia to her feet and forced her to run. The spinosaurus roared and pursued.

Silver Claw and Sophia raced through the jungle blinded out of fear and despair for their fallen family and the fate they could get if they did not escape the spinosaurus. The spinosaur kept a steady pace as it pursued the fleeing velociraptors, stepping on or over the underbrush with out a hint of slowing down. The velociraptors turned into the denser jungle hoping that the spinosaur would give up. It did not.

Silver Claw looked back briefly to see the spinosaur push past the trees that were meant to slow it down. Suddenly he tripped. He tumbled and hit the ground. The spinosaur was nearly upon him. Silver Claw rolled under the log and watched as a massive foot crashed down but to his shock, the spinosaurus kept moving.

Sophia shrieked as she continued on, alone. The spinosaurus let out a thunderous roar as it continued it pursuit. The footsteps slowly faded into the distance. Sophia let out one last sheik and then she fell silent. The spinosaurus roared. It was no longer moving away. The jungle fell silent for a moment and heavy footsteps slowly approached from the distance.

Silver Claw became as still and quiet as he could. The sound grew closer and suddenly the massive foot of the spinosaurus crashed down next the fallen tree. A crack sounded as a leg dropped down next to the log. Its jagged bits of white and bloodied flesh made Silver Claw tremble and sick.

The spinosaur sniffed the air and its large snout grabbed the leg. Another crack sounded and the spinosaur moved off. The area became quiet once more.

Sophia's dead, Silver Claw thought miserably. I am alone…

The jungle slowly slipped into darkened as dusk fell over the island and soon nightfall came. The eerie calls of the local wildlife echoed through out the night but Silver Claw remained motionless under the tree, tormented by the sights and happenings of the day. This was the first night he had ever spent alone and he knew it would not be the last.

Dawn was a welcome sight for Silver Claw as slowly emerged from under the fallen tree. He scanned the area for danger and slowly headed to where Sophia ran off.

Maybe Sophia survived and that leg was that of another of the pack members. Silver Claw thought optimistically, please be alive… please Sophia.

"Sophia!" He called out. "Sophia where are you!" For hours, he called out over the island but no answer ever came. Finally, he gave up the search and headed back towards the one safe place he knew that would keep other predators out, the old human structure. It was surrounded by a fence as the elders of his pack called it and no creature entered it out of fear of entrapment.

Silver Claw passed quietly through the jungle. His head tilted down, his feathers flat, but he remained alert to his surroundings. The distant cries of creatures only made him feel worse. He was alone. No pack, no family, no mate, how could any creature live alone? It just was not possible for a velociraptor, at least not for too long. Furthermore, he was young, just over a year, not even old enough to be away from a pack for more than a few days because a pack provided safety and could hunt for large prey.

Finally, at dusk he reached the building. Surrounding were large wire fences with a heavy steel gate, Silver Claw pushed the door open enough with his head to squeeze in. The area beyond the gate flowed green with foliage, a few exposed areas revealed a black stone like surface that appeared to have covered the entire area at one time. The rusted building with its shattered windows, vine covering, and sitting at the edge of a cliff, was no longer home to anything much larger than rodents that one plagued the island. Slowly he made his way up the stairs and walked into the main hall. His sensitive hearing picked up a soft whimpering that came from deep within the structure.

"Sophia? Is that you?" Silver Claw said softly "Sophia!" His head now perked up to find the source of the sound, another whimper came from within the structure and he found the hall that it was loudest. Running through the halls, he passed numerous rooms, halls, corridors, windows, and tables until he finally reached a room where behind the door, the sound was coming from. Pushing open the door quickly, he found not Sophia but something else…