"PIG LOOSE!"
The scream caught all of their attention. The Gradys and Barry immediately sped off to the paddock to observe the situation. Intrigued, Hoskins decided to stick around a little longer to watch them.
There it was, the same piglet which was taken away after the training ended a while ago was back in the paddock and running. Kate was startled as to how it could have even happened, but to her relief one of the staff, a junior one apparently, was sent for its retrieval. As he paced over the narrow walkways which were set around all over the huge paddock carrying, in his hand was a long stick with an attached hoop on one of its ends to pick the piglet. She wondered if he would be able to do it fast, knowing he had started here only recently and the raptors were difficult to deal with, it would take only seconds for the raptors to get it if they appear in the scene.
Speak of the devil— it was not even seconds later that the raptors came out of the dense bushes; they looked around and sniffed, having caught a scent of it. Kate and Owen immediately sensed an imminent danger as soon as they saw the raptors but before they could warn, the five raptors had dashed for the pig. The staff had barely managed to grab the pig into the hoop when one of the raptors got it instead. The staff still tried to retrieve but the rest of the raptors had come, too, and in their hurdle to snatch the pig out of the hoop, the stick was swept off his grip instead such that the staff lost balance— he fell off the narrow walkway and down into the paddock.
Kate clapped a hand over her mouth at the turn of events. But the raptors had not yet noticed him, still squabbling among themselves for the piglet, which was one of the first times they had got themselves live meals. "We need to stop them... right now," muttered Owen, knowing the situation was sure to spiral out of grasp the moment they might notice the staff.
"No! Stand down, everyone! Blue!" Kate started shouting commands and hurried over to the side of the paddock where the raptors had cornered the piglet. Owen was to help put the staff, but before any of them had reached any closer there was a cry of the piglet, and red blood splattered to the ground; Blue had slashed it. Kate nearly choked at the sight of so much blood spilled over and stumbled to a halt and when Owen stopped on her side, she squeezed on Owen's wrist. And what was worse, was that the pig was not dead yet as it bled, squirmed, and screeched and the scene was as disturbing as it could be.
Kate felt a little swirl in her stomach; she was not so weak with the concept of injuries that happened to anyone including herself or her brother often during the training sessions, but no way was she used to see the spilling of so much blood at all. She might have been training them for a couple of years now and sure there had been a few serious accidents and casualties as well, but by luck, she had not witnessed any of the worse herself until now... Owen had never let her near the scenes afterward considering it would have been inappropriate for her age.
"Blue, no! Stand down!" Owen shouted and hit the bars with his arms to seek her attention. But at the same time, the staff, from the sight of blood, had failed to keep shut anymore and screamed. And that was enough to seize their attention from the pig. Slowly they turned at him, with rumbling growls. Though at first they seemed a little nervous and alarmed by his presence, the undeniably terrified look on the staff's eyes and face had boosted their courage to attack him within the next few seconds. The staff was better prey and a bigger meal to share... They made to advance on him, slowly spreading to surround him in case the staff tried to run, leaving the wounded pig behind. With the fresh wound, there was no way it could move or escape, anyways.
Owen, in his head, could see all the ways it could take a turn to the worst. He knew that unless action was taken quickly and right now, it could be too late to save the staff and there was no need for repetition of the last accidents...
There was only one way.
"I've got to go in! Barry, Kate... someone open the gates now!" shouted Owen as he dashed for the gates of the paddock.
"What? No!" Barry countered, but he was bewildered seeing Kate running. "Kate, no, wait—"
Kate was still clueless when she raced to the switches, "Owen, what are you planning?!!" But she hit the switch to open the gate anyways without waiting for an answer, she trusted him enough to know he knew what he was doing and also knew that there was not a moment to be spared if they wished to save the staff.
"Warn the guards not to intercept!" With that, Owen rolled on his knees under the gates as soon as it was lifted enough for him to pass through and quickly ran into the paddock before Kate had realized his plan.
"Halt!" He commanded positioning himself in between the staff and the squad. The raptors were silenced for some seconds until they snarled, looking rather unpleased and furious.
"Brother, no—" Kate trailed off just as she had figured out what he was aiming for. The raptors would not fear or listen to anyone unless it was Owen or herself. Especially with a man prey in the scene where everything could go wrong: from the ruin of the years-long project of building a bond between the raptors and man, if they learned how it was to hunt live animals and men, to the death of that staff— it was the only effective option. Rebellious or not, they were bound to think twice, if not hesitate and fear, before they might attack their imprinters...
But, damn, he might not be able to hold them off on his own; she had not yet forgotten the incident when the raptors had rounded up on her. At that time the raptors were merely a year old, yet they had been courageous enough to attempt an attack on her... Owen on his own might not be enough to stabilize them...
"Damn it!" Muttering under her breath, Kate ran inside after her brother.
"No, Kate, don't!" yelled Barry and broke into a run after her, but he was late to stop her. The heavy gates were still being lifted slowly with loud mechanical noises for the raptors to take notice, so before it was lifted high enough for the raptors to escape the bounds of the paddock, Barry hit the next switch to stop the motion of the gates immediately.
The raptors had slowed down at all of the commotions; for a very long time they had not seen or heard the gates be lifted or anyone come in, so they were shortly confused. The junior staff, who had frozen to the spot, looked like he would faint any second behind Owen.
Owen raised his commanding hand in the air, the gesture was a cue to stop, and he waited to see if they would obey or not. The raptors growled and snarled in a tone of unease, their sharp gazes fixed upon him.
That was when Kate came dashing and joined Owen's side to stand defensively before the fear-struck staff. And at the suddenness of her appearance, the raptors jerked to step back with one or two squeals and quickly checked the compound for any more surprises.
Owen was also startled at her appearance; he glanced at her with widened eyes and furrowed brows but did not say anything. He could not possibly give the raptors a chance to inch on them when he was not looking. Kate, without lifting her strict gaze from the raptors, whispered, "What were you thinking of going inside alone? Did you possibly think you will be able to hold them on your own?!"
The raptors, who looked as courageous and rebellious just a minute ago with the pig, looked confused and unnerved and somewhat benign like usual when they would be obedient and cooperative. But then the heads of the raptors shot up to scan at the walkways above their heads at the outburst of the sounds of marching footsteps and they hollered angrily.
Astounded, Owen and Kate found the source of the sound to be the armed guards who had rounded up all over the walkways in seconds, ready with their non-lethal weapons to tranquilize the raptors.
Kate's heart leaped— It would be a very big mistake— if any of the weapons were fired, the relationship, the trust, and the bonding they had built bits by bits with the raptors throughout the years could shatter into unrepairable shards at one blow. It would not matter to the raptors if the bullets were lethal or not, or just tranquilizers; the mere attempt of shooting at them or raising a weapon on them would be equal to being disrespectful to their loyalty, and it would be enough to create a surge of rage among the raptors. So Kate immediately called off the guards, "No no no, hold your fire!"
"Hold your fire! Do not fire!" Owen warned, although his tone sounded kind of casual it was evident that he was alarmed, "Put 12 amps in them, and they're never going to trust us again!"
The guards, though looked very much hesitant, followed his order to lower the aiming rifles but were still prepared to take up the weapons anytime. And although the guards had stood down, it was enough to agitate the raptors who were still internally conflicted; they growled as Owen and Kate stood standstill, face to face with them. Taking an advantage of their confused phase, Kate quickly helped the nearly fainting staff to get on his feet and gave him a push to signal him to run for the gate. Kate feared he would not be able to move a step but the staff somehow half-ran and half-dragged himself to the gate and Barry who was waiting impatiently by the gate, grabbed him and pulled him out.
But before Owen or Kate could have retreated to the gate as well, the squad who were further infuriated for helping the staff out of here squealed furiously which made the both of them jump. Honestly, experiencing that from up close, surely felt very threatening even for their imprinting trainers as well. The raptors seemed to have realized that but before they tried to advance on them taking advantage of the situation, Owen cut in. With a small whistle, Owen ordered raising his commanding arm, "Stand down."
"Cut it out! What's gotten into y'all suddenly?" said Kate. But Delta and even Blue, usually the calmer and patient two out of all the raptors were evidently on their edge as they growled and glowered.
"Hey, watch it!" Owen glared. "Don't you give me that!" The snarls instantly stopped, but they had already rounded up on them from the left, right, and center. It was much surprising although both of them were expecting such kind of an act anytime soon and they stood firm on their ground all the same.
"Is this how it's gonna be?" Owen glanced at them in turns. "Huh?"
For brief seconds, Kate's heart raced as a hollow fear was rising within knowing they barely stood a chance against the raptors if they charged until she pulled a grip on herself. Because if they caught any scent of nervousness, the fear and hesitance that was still holding down the squad would not be in effect for long.
The raptors had not made any response and stillness prevailed briefly. But with every passing second, it was growing intense and unnerving for both of the siblings as well, for they knew exactly what each of these velociraptors was capable of and how brutal could they be if they would wish to be, neither was it easy or possible to hold off the five of them in the same time for much longer. The raptors, too, were growing more impatient after losing their chance with both the pig and the staff; it had not skipped their notice when the guards had quickly picked off the wounded pig behind their back. The raptors rumbled aloud in confusion and dismay.
"Easy girls.... easy," murmured Kate, shifting her glance from one raptor to another. Owen did not utter anything yet, he knew the raptors would like to listen to her words when they were upset sometimes, so he let her talk. "It was a mistake, which I think you realized, too. Right?" She kept her tone gentle.
But unlike most other times, the raptors looked reluctant to listen to her. Echo jerked her head and snapped in the air while Charlie growled. But she did not stop, she toned down her voice as she said, "Hey, hey, Echo, easy," She kept a watch at Echo and Charlie both of who were keen to inch up on them had they were not being watched closely. "And, there's no need to act snappy, Charlie. Cool down."
"Blue? Hey, why don't you help us keep your sisters in check?" Kate shared a glance with Blue who rather snarled in response, showing she was unhappy as well. "Blue, Blue... That's not who you are... You know it's wrong, I know you do, so lock it up." For a second Blue did look convinced but then she just jumped with a squeal.
Owen was startled at her sudden jumpy behavior but he did not let it show; instead, he pulled an act of anger and disapproval as he ordered her down. "Hey, hey! What did I just say??" He kept his tone in between that of a scold and earnest disapproval, as though it was just another day at training and Blue had just failed to do something rather very silly. Blue jerked back a little and Owen nodded. "That's it. Just stand down."
Meanwhile, outside the paddock, there was only one man who was rather enjoying every bit of it. Hoskins. He smirked to himself, then approached close to the barred boundary of the paddock to ensure a finer view of everything that was happening in there; he certainly did not want to miss out on anything.
"Girls, back up," ordered Owen as soon as he saw Delta on his side trying to move. "I can see you. All of you. And you know I don't like it when you act like this. So don't upset me anymore," he said looking at all the raptors.
At the same time, Kate was dealing with Echo, who bared her teeth and was growling and trying to intimidate her off. "No, don't you act like that," Kate looked at her with sorrowful eyes. "Girls, this is not you. The girls we love, whom we have trained and raised wouldn't turn on us, would you?" Those last words finally seemed to affect Echo and after some seconds of hesitance, she stepped back. "Very good, Echo," Kate praised still looking into Echo's eyes who remained motionless. "That was not so hard, was it?"
She eyed Charlie who hung her head when eyes met with hers. "Good girl..." She glanced at all the five raptors and wetted her dry lips. "Girls, I need you to back up. Listen to me." She looked at Violet hopefully. "Violet, my girl? Don't you always stick up for me? Come on, back me up. Listen to me." And she turned to call Blue as well. "Blue, sweetie... Tell your sisters to go back, come on, girl."
Charlie kept her head hung low as she barely took one step back, and so did Echo. Very reluctantly, the rest of them followed as well, except Blue who stood her ground. Owen with a glance at the rest of the squad focused on Blue. "Blue, listen to us, and just back—" But Blue hissed baring her teeth so Owen changed his tone. "Alright, just stay put! You don't take a single step, got it?"
"Good," praised Owen seeing the raptors still keeping their silence after a minute. It appeared minor stability had been established, no matter how frugal that was. But neither was it going to be like this for long, so they needed to get out of here right now while the raptors were still holding on.
"Owen, we might not be able to hold them for long..." she whispered, not taking her eyes off the raptors even for a single moment.
"I know. We need to get out right now," he said but his lips were barely moving.
"But how?"
"There's only one way out," murmured Owen in a monotonous tone after a glance at the back. Barry was still at the gate waiting for them anxiously... Owen quickly thought of something, then mumbled to Kate, "Follow me." Without looking back he instructed rather casually, "Barry, close the gate."
"What?! Are you crazy?" shouted Barry glaring incredulously.
"Hey, just trust me," replied Owen.
"Wait— what?" Kate was taken aback and could not but shoot a brief glare sideways, quickly figuring the hints of his plan.
"Just, when I say, run for the gate," He whispered without any explanation or moving his eyes off the raptors.
Barry was still hesitating but seeing no other way, he decided to listen to Owen, and so, he hit the red button. "You better be in one piece when you get out," he muttered anxiously.
The raptors were observing them cautiously; they seemed to be sensing that the Gradys were up to something when seeing the gates coming down with the Gradys still inside confused them again. Violet rumbled baring her teeth although she did not dare take a step forward. Getting no response from her alphas, she shared a glance with her beta and twin, Blue, and both rumbled again.
"Easy...." Kate soothed them casually although her heart was pacing up fast. She almost could not believe what she and her brother was going to try any second now... by the sounds of it, she could figure that the gate was nearly halfway down to the ground... Should they not have made the run already if they were to get out of here before the gates hit and closed on the ground?
Owen was still staring right into the eyes of Blue since she was the Beta; the rest of the raptor squad should not be doing anything until Blue had made a move. "Ready?" He whispered to Kate. "3, 2, 1– RUN!"
The gate was down past halfway and still closing on to the ground, but the decreasing gap under it which, although struck risky in their attempt of escape, was little of a hindrance to the Grady siblings than for the raptors for whom it should be enough of a blockade to follow them out of the paddock. Owen and Kate did not look back to see if any of the raptors were already after them or not. They leaped and bounded towards the gate at full speed and just as they were close enough, Owen rolled on his aide to the other side of the gate and Kate skidded on her knees to pass through the closing gaps under it. like that both were out just in time before the gate dropped to the ground behind them.
The raptors who indeed had come chasing after them, squealing and hollering as they skidded into the railings and the bars of the now-closed gate and hit themselves. Some of them still glowered and rumbled from behind the gate, then slowly and reluctantly they started to retreat into the paddock, growling and rumbling among themselves.
Hoskins with a slick smile decided to leave them for now; he was in a triumphant mood as he left the scene without anyone noticing. He was so satisfied; he had seen what he needed to.
Owen and Kate were still on the ground and panting, trying to catch their breaths slowly; it felt like their lungs had run out of air from the run. Barry rushed to their sides.
"It was sick—" he exclaimed when Kate reached her hand to him so he could help her up on her feet, but he dejected her shaking his head, "—and very dangerous." There was no trace of smile or amazement in his face; he purely looked concerned, if not quite mad at them for their stupid act. "You stay put there for a moment," Barry sternly said, as if scolding her, but Kate knew he was just concerned, "Can't even breathe properly but won't spare a minute to rest, huh! Stay put."
Kate nodded quickly, giving in but chuckled airily in between her sharp breaths, shaking her head. Owen, who was exhausted as much as her, smacked Barry on his arm with a burst of short laughter, seeing him all tensed up.
"No, don't you two laugh.... it was nothing funny," Barry rolled his eyes at the siblings. He stared at them in silence for a couple of seconds, relieved that both had come out without a scratch. But he did not like how both Kate and Owen acted like it was nothing after almost escaping death like that: it was something the siblings had in common, but he would rather they did not share this characteristic. When the Gradys looked less weary after another minute or two, Barry spoke up sending a glare to the junior staff, "Tu aurais dû la laisser le bouffer".
Both the Gradys could correctly understand what he said; Owen just looked away with a chuckle while Kate tried to smile. "Come on, Barry...." she too chuckled, "loosen up..." For what Barry had just said meant 'You should have just let them eat him'. Since the trio had spent several years together and he would occasionally speak in his native tongue, by now the Gradys could understand a lot of his French pretty quickly.
"You guys keep pulling all these unnecessary and stupid stunts without thinking twice... what would have happened if it had gone wrong?" Barry said, crouching next to Kate.
"But...it didn't," chuckled Owen, still panting through his words. Right now, he did not want to think about that.
"And we...have done it... just right," Kate said in between hasty breaths. But she could not hold in her chuckles either, although she did not know why or which part of Barry being concerned seemed so amusing.
"Don't act like it was a joke... we all know how dangerous they can be and how each of the seconds in there could have gone wrong... just be grateful that your fate had your backs. And would you two stop laughing? Take a minute or two, you two are pretty winded," Barry sighed and shook his head.
So after a while, when they were feeling better, they looked for the junior staff they had rescued. He was still stiff on the ground and leaning against the bars of the paddock, watching them somewhat obliviously. From his looks, he seemed as bewildered and horrified as before.
"So you're the new guy here, right?" She asked.
He looked like he had just noticed her as he jerked at her question but then nodded faintly. Kate sighed quietly watching his condition, "Ever wonder why there was a job opening in the middle of the year in the first place?" It took a few seconds for him to realize what she meant and just as he figured it out, he was, once again, terrified and flinched to straighten up his back.
Owen turned his attention to him now and warned, "In here, you must be on high alert. Always. And remember... Never turn your back to the paddock." With that, he got up on his feet and then helped his sister before heading off.
The staff seemed a little clueless as he stared after him, but then slowly he looked back. And just as he did so, one of the raptors had crept right behind him and tried to reach a claw at him, making him jolt and squirm away hastily with a mild yelp. The raptor clutched the bars with their claws and sent a vicious look at him. The staff shot backward and looked for the others all of who were leaving and startled and scared, he, too, hastened away from there.
In the resting shade, as Kate was splashing water on her face, Owen decided it was time they headed back. It was already late and past their usual break time, and now with the paddock scene, it was more than enough for a day.
"Do you think.. that pig would make it out? The wound looked pretty bad...and bled a lot." Kate asked after sending another splash to her face, as a way of reprimanding herself, without addressing anyone in specific. When the tension in her body had finally settled, breaths steadied and whatever sense of humor that had found itself in her earlier had died down, what happened back there came back to her with its gravity— it did not seem like a matter of laugh anymore at all.
Both Barry and Owen look at her upon hearing her and exchange glances.
"Might not..." Barry sighed shaking his head.
He knew it was going to affect and sadden her, so he patted her head to soothe her. "Je m'excuse (I'm sorry)," he mumbled.
Just as he had expected, Kate's frown took a turn of remorse, as though she felt responsible for all this, somehow.
"Look... there was nothing you could do here, it was an accident," Barry tried to console. "The best part is you guys were there to stop it before it could have turned hella worse. You saved the new guy, that's gotta be worth it. Listen, it has been a long day, go home and get some rest... and don't stress over it too much."
Kate stared at her reflection on the mirror set above the basin, then with a long soft breath, she splashed her face with handfuls of water for the last time. "Uhh.. so much for one better training day with them," Kate murmured and sighed. She returned to Owen's side and slowly stretched an arm with a mild grunt. "Guess, a hot shower is what I need now."
"Yeah, right... and it's pretty late already. Let's call it a day." Owen patted her shoulder and went to grab the stuff she had collected in one place earlier.
"See you later, Barry," murmured an exhausted Kate, picking both of their keys.
"Alright, see ya."
It was a short walk to where the bikes were parked. Kate, too, had her bike now; Owen had got her a bike last year knowing how she loved riding with him and wished for one of her own. Several thoughts and concerns regarding the raptors had started clogging her mind and she did not notice when she was standing before her bike. Owen's voice cut her out of her reverie.
"You don't look well... You okay?" He asked observing her from the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah," She took a few seconds to respond, and looked round at him, "Are you not?"
"No, I'm fine," he shrugged.
"Then why wouldn't I be? Do you think I'd easily be spooked?" She raised a brow.
"What? No," he chuckled strapping on his helmet, "But seriously, what is it? Is it about what happened in there?" As he noticed Kate was somewhat forgetting or ignoring to put on her helmet when she had mounted her bike, he nudged her. "Hey, safety first, coolness later. Put your helmet on."
"More or less..." she nodded hesitantly as she thought about it again, slowly strapping her helmet on per his insistence, "You know... they did chase after us when we ran, they did dare to come after us... Is it so that they are getting a bit too courageous or they don't consider us the same way as they did anymore?"
"It is concerning, I know, but maybe, they just messed up today... don't forget, they are not used to human interactions other than us and Barry yet. The staff's presence might have triggered them... who knows?" He sighed although he have been worried and thinking about it. "But let's not worry about that right now. Okay?"
Kate nodded. "Here, your keys," She tossed his ones to him.
Owen grabbed them with a perfect catch. "Race home?" He wiggled a brow tentatively. When Kate looked at him, he smirked, knowing that for sure was going to cheer her up.
With a quick thought, Kate returned the same smirk and started her bike. Maybe it would be helpful to get her mind off it for now. "Sure, why not?"
authors' note: how was this chapter, did you enjoy the intense scenes, or were they too dramatic? you can tell us in the comment section. thanks for reading! if you enjoyed it, vote to support us! Assalamu alaikum ♥ ♥