The Indominus Rex couldn't put to words what she had witnessed.
Standing atop a lonely hill, the speckled hybrid watched in dread as the only home she ever knew collapsed before her eyes. She didn't want to believe such a thing could happen; INGEN facilities were quite fortified and unique in nature. Guarded. Protective. Safe.
This... this shouldn't have happened.
She instantly blamed the hybrid that condemned her sister over his pride. Everything was perfect until that untamed short-nosed monstrosity strolled right into their lives, toiling everything she held dear. Scrutinizing her beliefs. Poisoning her heart. And he hurt Seven. He had no care for what happened to them. No care but himself.
Indy snorted.
Eventually he'll kill her, she thought to herself. One wrong move and it's all over. If Blink even cared-
Her teeth began to show, eyes flashing of a sinister hue. She should've eaten him when she had the chance. It would've saved them both the trouble. Maybe even prevent the nightmare that ruined their lives today.
But, then again, had Seven not left, they wouldn't have suspected anything to go awry. Had they stayed, Indy would've found herself in a moving crate, drugged away as the humans moved her to a location far from home. Versus the lonesome moment she shared now, she would rather have a bit of self-time than another round of unwanted hell.
Maybe a part of her considered Blink words a tad bit true. But she wasn't so keen on accepting anything immediately.
Not yet.
Another crackling explosion shook the hybrid out of thought and back to the flaming scene ahead. Indy remembered running the moment the door was opened, never once looking back at her paddock. Strangely enough, nobody sought her scales as Seven had foretold; the space outside was emptied. Still, taking the chance to look would endanger the whole point of escape, and so she high-tailed right out of there to safety. She tried to keep the stench of her old place in her head as a reminder of where she belonged. Now, the only scent that filled her nostrils were the growing smoke clouds billowing in the north, and the crowd of humans that now surrounded the blazing inferno. No Seven. No Blink. No humans. No home.
Nobody was coming.
Just Indy. A massive white monster. Alone in the woods.
How quaint.
She shook at the thought of that. It wasn't right of her to be thrown into a world she didn't know. A world that, frankly, her entire being hoped to hide from after what happened on Isla Nublar. The indominus made a wave of promises at such a young age, so much so that they've become a broken record in her head.
Would they stay?
Her heart still felt pure for the most part. Indy thought herself to be obedient enough to INGEN and Wu, not like her predecessor. She didn't lash out, or snarl, or attack without reason -- they'd kill her if those foundations were filled with cruelty and hate. This kept her alive. This kept her safe.
Now she willed it to stay as she stood on that hill by her lonesome. With nobody to watch her, study her, care for her, or feed her, she was scared what would come. Survival wasn't in mind, even if it was in her nature.
Indy's eyes began to look around. Fixated on the forest ahead, her predatory eyes adjusted just slightly to the dark, allowing full exposure of the wilderness filling the gaps of the night. Her jaws gaped in surprise. Many new scents wafted into her nostrils: pinecones, overturned soil, mushrooms, rocks, even small furry creatures that scrambled about. Beyond that remained a wave of other smells she couldn't make out, fueling her interests even more.
Curling in her claws, the indominus then chortled over the strange warmth that found her feet -- cushioned and fleshy, almost like the human equivalent of a pillow. It didn't hurt like it did at home -- the false rocks, dried soil, and dead plants were quite annoying. And, from above, her scales would wrinkle and spasm upon the prickly sensations nipping at her scales; small bugs began to prey off her scales bearing a mouthful of her blood. It tickled... until it started to itch.
But it was quiet here. So quiet, that it felt unnatural to her. She was used to the running noises of the facility, and the soft humming noises that vibrated beneath her belly. Here, it was peaceful. The world awakened unlike anything else, embracing a newcomer to a realm nobody warned her about. The stars glistened, the earth -- still and firm. Towering just a few feet beneath the pines, she felt king in these woods. Sure, part of that feeling was because everything was so small, but the world stretched indefinitely in all directions. So many places to go... it filled her heart with wonder.
And joy. A different kind if any.
She looked back to the flaming facility for a brief second, her tail beginning to dip once a memory found her mind.
"Is that all you want?" Blink had growled at her the first time they met. "You are an Indominus... are you not?"
"I don't care what I am to you or the humans," she huffed back. "I'm just trying to live."
"In this? Where these humans control every bit of your 'peaceful' life? This is living to you?"
Indy swallowed, allowing another memory to sink into her heart.
"You're a hybrid, Indy," her sister told her. "Like me. Like Blink. Like all those that came before us. There's nothing to be afraid of, but each other."
"Nothing to be afraid of..." Indy echoed out her friend's careful words, turning back to look into the growing forest. Oddly enough, human genocide was the thing that got her out. And now everything was standing right before her, waiting for her choice. Waiting for another welcome.
Indy sighed, closing her eyes. There was no going back. No returning to the life she once praised. No more INGEN. She had to embrace what her past gave her. Embrace the hybrid life her kin died for.
On her own, that is.
Opening her eyes, Indy's eyes glowed of a dark red shade, and a heavy snarl rippled through her maw. The noise, just short of a roar, was just enough to shake the earth, silencing the entire forest just for her likings. She took another heavy breath, lifting a single claw from the earth.
And stepped forth into a new life.
◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥
Without a plan, that is.
She should've thought ahead of time before wading off into the night like a wanton hero.
By the next morning, the glowing warmth of a Californian sun had found the sleeping hybrid, now trapped in her own freedom. After a night of aimless walking, Indy had collapsed near a little creek of muddy water. She wasn't fond of the taste or the scent it gave off, but it was drinkable.
Now she was hungry. And lost.
Indy wasn't expecting survival to be this difficult. The scents were so strong out in the wilderness, even a sensitive snout designed for hunting wasn't so helping in this world. Stuck, she was, swarmed by the heavy aroma of pinewood and soil, to the point that it became annoying. And she couldn't tell what land she was in either -- at times she'd hear the soft echo of mankind a distance away, warning her of her travels. Sometimes she'd even hear dinosaurs raging about, but she'd always come across an already scrapped corpse, dung, or a flying beast too far out of reach. They were hard to catch.
And, sometimes, she didn't know what to do.
But, now approaching the second day without food, her stomach was starting to ache. It would growl and lurch with primal need, forcing her maw to salivate over nothing but the heady air beneath her. Her footsteps were too heavy, sending tremors through an already earthquake-infested world to scatter prey. It wasn't that she was lazy, she never knew how to do this.
At times like this, Indy wished she understood her predecessor better. At times like this, she needed Seven.
And Blink, as much as she hated to admit it.
Stupid freedom, she growled, lashing her tail from behind. Stupid forest, stupid snout, stupid-
But then, midway through her walk, her nostrils picked up a scent. A fresh, meat-like stench, wide out in the open. And a noise, too, one she didn't think to be human or flyer, but large enough to call prey. Her eyes flashed with lust, teeth chattering uncontrollably as instinct took control. And, without a thought to process, she let her nares guide her into the thick of it.
Meat...
Her pacing began to quicken.
Food...
Whirling about a couple more trees, she found herself deeper into the dying foliage, the smell now severe and heavy. A click left her tongue.
It was right in front of her.
Indy growled, edging a bit closer, her snout poking out of the thickets. No longer was she aware of herself -- the hunger was too great to ignore. Drool began to run down her trembling jaws, and her claws twitched and tightened over the need to rip into meat. Even her pupils dilated once the stench became distinct.
Mine...
And the second she heard a snap, Indy shoved out of the forest, releasing a violent roar. Her jaws ripped open, claws extended outward to terrify the prey that collapsed before her, ready for the kill. But she didn't hear anything back, not even a peep of noise. Curious to see if her nostrils were lying, the hybrid tilted her head to the right, to see a bit clearer.
It's not moving. No, it's sitting down. Why was it sitting down? Why is it yellow-
Wait...
The little girl began to cry, stood up, and started waddling away in tears.
Indy tilted her head, watching it for a moment. Should I still eat it? Her mind already began to fuse back to her older self, back to those cautious reminders that kept her sane. Don't kill mankind, her mind reminded her. Don't turn into your nightmare. Still, as Indy eyed the tiny fleeing human, she started to consider whether to go through with her decision or not. Humans raised her. They taught her. They nurtured her to death. Even if her instincts hungered for a taste of their meat, she couldn't come to full terms with it.
It was odd, though, seeing a human submit so easily to fear.
And running so slow.
She slowly trailed after it, watching the human stumble as Indy's every footstep knocked her off balance. The tremors and the growls were too much for her to bear, and she fumbled to the ground again, wailing even louder. But, at this point, Indy wasn't so sure what to do. Eat it and go against her order? Tamper with it to figure out what exactly it is? Let it go? The plastic yellow surface over its body was confusing her, and the sheer lack of fighting was meddling with her instincts. Going down on her front claws, she approached the small human, face to face, watching it stand back up again and waddle even faster away.
What is it even doing? She wondered, lifting a claw and poking it.
The creature face-planted.
Oh.
Indy looked around as the screaming reset. She could just eat it and have her fill. Still, even if that was an option, it wouldn't last the day -- she'd still go hungry again. And that yellow...
No, she wrinkled her snout, her predatory eyes painfully fighting against the warning color. It wouldn't taste good anyway. And so, with a soft huff, the hybrid leaned down and nipped her fangs into the yellow of the human's back. It squirmed a bit, watching the ground leave its grasp, and cried a bit louder. But, upon realization of the situation, the human's crying began to settle, as did its fears. Confused, it watched the world shift and move about; Indy carried her across the waving hills and right back to the source of the earlier scent. With a plop, she let go of her prey, took a step back, and sank into the shadows of her first hiding spot to watch.
That was a mistake.
In a matter of seconds, the human's fear vanished off the face of the earth. Most prey would dash off into the shadows, back to the land of the living. But humans were a different breed. A curious, idiotic breed of mammals if anything. Staring deep into Indy's eyes, the human began to draw close, startling the hybrid and forcing a warning growl from her throat. It didn't care; it lifted its twin baby hands into the air, squeezed twice, and called out:
"Up?"
Indy took another step back.
Maybe I should kill it.
"Up!" the human edged closer. "Please?"
Indy swallowed. I should kill it.
The human frowned, reaching into her yellow jacket for something strange. Indy felt the need to run -- any act like that was what INGEN used to do to take out their prodding sticks. A punishment if anything went wrong. But, rather than a long metallic stick made for zapping, the human extracted the very same stench that Indy tracked from earlier, a meat-like aroma that made her head swim.
"Hungry?"
Indy's eyes flashed.
The human leveled her arm with the base of her shoulder before letting go, her throw tossing the strange coated object into thin air. Indy didn't even care what it was, her jaws snapped around it, crunching through the wrapper and swallowing the small item whole. It tasted strange -- thin and small, but it filled her raging stomach with something she could muster. The moment the pain passed, Indy let out a sigh of hopeful relief, and watched the human before her giggle in amusement.
"Good dinosaur-"
"Belle!" A female's scream suddenly made the hybrid flinch, forcing her back into camouflage as another presence rushed into the scene. An older female, roughly an older version of the first human, filled Indy's visage next, and she found the giggling little girl standing by herself in the woods.
"What are you doing?" she shook the youngster. "You know better! You and your darn habit of wandering off-!"
"Dinosaur, Emma!" she pointed directly at Indy.
"Yeah, let's hope not," Emma growled, picking her up to her shoulders without seeing the monster in hiding. "I'm not risking the woods with y-" she patted her sister's chest in confusion. "Where's your sandwich?"
She pointed again. "Dinosaur-"
"Did you throw it away?" Emma rolled her eyes. "Belle... that's too much turkey gone to waste! Come on..."
Still eying the forest, Emma rounded back around in her original direction, carrying the little human away to safety, despite Belle still trying to put an 'Up' hand signal to the hybrid. Indy growled slightly, taking a step further into the woods, and frowned.
That was weird, she thought to herself. But that thing she gave me isn't going to hold me for long. There has to be something... edible.
With a snort, the indominus rex resumed her hunt opposite the human town, trailing after the scents she struggled to filter through. Her nares flared and twitched, sampling the pheromones and patterns of the earth that sought her interest. But she wasn't so keen on anything else. Nothing else mattered but the hunt.
Not even the creature stalking her from behind.