The next few days after Oddclaw's "special liaison" with Moonclaw, he kept looking after the eggs until it was her turn to do so.  Curious about the newcomers, he would hunt in the morning gathering enough food for his mate before visiting the base in the afternoon and evening after working out a schedule of compromise.  Barkclaw returned home three days later after turning becoming homesick for his usual haunts, whilst Oddie stepped through the halls with Major-General Brightman.

        "How's your kids?" he asked first.

        "They are not hatching yet," said the raptor wearing shorts again, "mother says it will be another twen...twen-ty-five days until they hatch."

        "How can she tell?"

        "She remembers how hot they feel when before they hatch, she has talked with the other mothers too and they say the same thing."

        "Are you excited?" asked Thomas with hands behind his back.

        "I am," said Oddie rubbing his knuckles, "but...I am also afraid."

        "Afraid?"

        "I have never been a father before.  I have never looked after children...and if one of them is like me, mother said I was so difficult."

        "But she managed didn't she?  Look at you."  He slapped a hand upon his shoulder.  "You grew up alright and with what she knows combined with what I know about raising a kid, your family's gonna come out even better."

        "Thank you sir."

        "You can call me Thomas you know, I think we're past the sir thing."

        "Yes but..." he turned towards him as they stopped, "you are the alpha here, it is best I call you sir."

        "Hmhmhm...stickler for the rules."

        "How are the new starbeasts?"

        "Oh they've been pretty great," said Thomas continuing his walk as Oddie followed, "The old man is fascinated with that portal, talking about all sorts of things that frankly go over my head."

        "And James?"

        "He's just been reading books, constantly, non-stop.  His master wasn't joking that he loved reading."

        "I love reading too!  I should go see him, I am curious about him."

        "Heh, alright then."  Brightman stopped at his office door which remained guarded by two soldiers saluting him.  "Also Holt tells me you're entering our little tournament later?"

        "I am yes," said the raptor proudly, "I want to see how good you humen can fight."

        "Hahahaaaa that a challenge huh?  I'd rather hope we don't break you in half before you see your kids."

        "I am a raptor, you should worry about YOUR tribe, do you know how many stonebeasts I've killed?!"

        "HAH!  Cocky little shit, alright it's your funeral Odd.  Take care alright?"

        "I will, goodbye sir."

Walking down the halls he passed by Kevin's lab where he saw Adenine and Ribose working on a new solution with Kevin and the rest of his staff observing them.

        "You guys good?" he asked them.

        "Yeah yeah I got it!" cried Bose.

        "Try not to blow us up."

        "ADE, ADE MIND THE-"

        "I GOT IT!"

Something fizzed and a cloud flumed powerfully across their mask-covered faces.  They stared at their concoction as a glowing orange colour burbled quietly to itself before Kevin took the container and drank it.  The tension in the room was palpable as he smacked his lips.

        "Mmmmmmm...YEP, we did it!"

        "AWHAW YEAH!"

        "WHOOHOOO!"

        "Good job boys, you finally created Irn-Bru from scratch!"

        "HIGH FIVE!"

They all celebrated with rapturous applause as Oddie rolled his eyes and wandered further to where James' room was to knock on his door.

        "Hmm?!  Come in!"

The raptor entered seeing the lemming sat up on his bed with a book in his hand.

        "OH, hello there!"

        "Hello," said Odd waving, "I hope I am not bothering."

        "Oh, not at all!  Oddclaw, yes?"

        "Yes, how are you?"

        "I am well thank you!"  He sat up from the bed with book still in hand.  "I apologise for our first engagement, is everything alright?"

        "It is fine, do not worry."  They both shook hands again as the raptor noted his reading.  "I have not read that book, what is that?"

        "Oh, it's called 'I Robot', I am in LOVE with the library your friends have!"

        "I love it too!  What books have you read?"

        "Well um...besides the science and history textbooks I have been reading  'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', 'the Chronicles of Narnia', 'The Last Unicorn'-"

        "OH, I READ THAT BOOK!" cried the raptor.  "What was your favourite part?!"

        "OHH!"  The youth clasped the book to his heart.  "The old lady who cried because the unicorn did not come see her, my heart was WEEPING!"

        "OH YES, it was very sad but I love that book."

        "I love it too!  Do you recommend anything else?  I am just starting on science fiction which I admit is a genre I am not familiar with, but this book is marvellous!"

        "I have not read a lot of...sy-ens fiction but...would...would you like to read books with me?"

Their eyes lit up with a synchronous excitement, a mutual nod and beaming grins that spread across their faces as Oddclaw went to grab himself a copy of whatever Anna could recommend him.  He ended up reading 'The War of the Worlds' and sat up with James on his bed as they spoke between chapters.

        "Do your people have literature too?" asked the lemming.

        "Li-turrit-choor?" mumbled Oddie.

        "Books, I mean, forgive me."

        "No, we do not have books.  We have stories, we tell them to each other about things we have seen or dreamed about."

        "Ahhh, oral tradition!"

        "My brother Barkclaw likes to tell me how many in-sekts he has seen today, he counts them with scratches on his trees."

        "Oh yes, I remember we watched movies with him, me and master Durai and your friend sir Holt."

The raptor smiled at the boy, yet there was something clicking at the back of his head when questions came stirring up from the surface.

        "How old are you James?" he asked uncertain.

        "Oh, I am...nineteen," said the youth bashfully.

        "Really?  I am twen-ty-seven."

        "Goodness!  I would have thought you were younger, but why do you ask?"

        "Um...it is just...no, it is silly."

        "No no tell me, please," James put down his book turning his body to him, "I am curious now."

        "Well...I was...hmmm..." Oddclaw pressed his hands together in trying to focus on an appropriate sentence.  "My father was called...James.  And you are called James."

        "Ohhh?  ...that is odd."

        "It is."

        "I mean, from the names that your tribe have, that name does not fit yes?  You have names like Barkclaw, and Oddclaw, and sir Dronin tells me that they are based on characteristics that each individual has shown."

        "Uhm...y-yes."

        "So why is your father called James?"

        "Because he was from another world," said Oddie biting his lip, "he was not from my tribe."

        "Ohhhh!  ...o-ohhhh...ohhh goodness I um, I-i see, well, let us be logical about this."  James crossed his legs and slightly pouffed his curled hair.  "I have travelled to many worlds, where I have met several creatures.  James is not an unusual name, and I have heard people on this base called James too, yes?"

        "Yes," admitted Oddie scratching his neck, "but...you are not from this world, and you are called James so...I am sorry, I know this is silly."

        "No no it is fine, I understand!  You are just curious I mean I do not know what to tell you."

        "I know that humen choose names by themselves, and they all mean things.  Jane said that her name was an old French name, and Jeremy said that his name is an old By-bull name.  I do not know what that means."

        "Well, I was named after the saviour of my people," explained the young mage, "I am the only one of my tribe called James, for in our tribe only one of us can be called by a name because we do not have family names, or 'surnames' as master Durai called them."

        "We do not have family names either," said the raptor, "but we all have different 'names', there is no other Oddclaw but me, and no other Barkclaw but my brother."

        "Hahaha, perhaps you and I are more alike than we think!"

        "Yes, maybe!"

The two smiled at each other, James finding himself strangely disarmed by the wide grinning steak-knived teeth of the reading raptor as they went back to their books.  They spent the entirety of their day burning through pages and once Oddclaw had finished his book, he went back home to sleep.

During his student's reading Haytham was spending most of his time at the Third Energy lab, marvelling at the strange technology as he sat beside Andrea in the control booth.

        "We've determined," she began, "that every four-hundred-and-eleven days our portal seems to activate relating to the lunar cycle."

        "Really?" asked the Ivalician.  "And you are uncertain as to why this happens?"

        "So far we cannot find any reason for it, just something is trapping our device to the moon's orbit, we were only able to open a time portal twice, once to get here and once when we brought Jeremy to here."

        "Jeremy?  AH, sir Holt, he is not from your era?"

        "No, he comes from the last century, about eighty years before what was our time period."

        "And how did he adjust to his new surroundings?"

        "He was...well, he took it hard," she hunched forwards with hands clasped together, "first few months was pretty rough, lotta new things to tell him, some good some bad, but in the end he liked being here.  The last place he was in was a labour camp in the middle of a war."

        "I see," said Haytham stroking his beard, "but since then you have not been able to recreate it?"

        "Not for the past...seventeen years.  Honestly I'm kind of amazed no one's killed themselves yet out of stress from all this but then we...did have a rather specific selection process."

        "What sort of process?"

        "People with a certain mental stability, able to handle living somewhere else for years...though we didn't expect it to be this long even if it was a possibility."

        "How long were you planning on staying?"

        "We expected it to be around five years..." she shrugged slowly with a heavy sigh, "at least most of us don't really have a life to go back to."

        "And what of your families?"

        "I mean...we worry about them yeah.  I do miss them...I'm sure most of us miss them...but you must feel the same too Haytham, what about your family?"

        "Ahhh..." he sighed with a grating rub of his temple, "unfortunately my family and I are estranged, I have two sons and a wife that...well, it was not an amicable divorce."

        "I'm sorry."

        "No no, twas my fault, I did not pay enough attention to them, too absorbed in my work and became lost with high society.  Far as I know my sons are living happily with their own careers, I hear tell one of them has become a philosopher!"

        "Hah, well that's good at least!  Actually, I was curious about one thing, about your books?"

        "Yes?"

        "Would it be able to..." she braced herself for disappointment as her teeth creeped across her lip, "would it be possible if you had a book to spare, that could maybe send us back?"

        "Ahhh, sadly not."  He shook his head solemnly.  "The Lemming tribe have employed a new safeguard upon the Linking Books so that only those entrusted with the book are able to use it, hence why me and James have our owns separate."

        "Why is that?"

        "So it cannot fall into the wrong hands, again.  That is all I can say."

        "U-um, ooookay?"  She rubbed her arm nervously as her eyes darted towards the gate.  "I still can't believe we contacted you all those years back...it's weird that our anomalies have only been happening since...wait."

She turned towards the console, tapping down into menus as Haytham looked over at the screen.

        "What is it?" he asked.

        "Your uh...your language, it...reminded me.  Maybe I'm just going out on a limb here but, your book...you can understand any language right?"

        "Within a level of complexity yes."

        "Could you tell me what THIS language is, and what they were saying?"

Andrea opened a file dated to 10/23/2031.  She skipped through the initial frantic upset of Oddclaw scrabbling at the door and Jane's panicked cries to separate the voice from beyond the first portal's spatial rift.  The moment he heard that language Haytham was shocked beyond belief.

        "REGABAH!"

        "Ha vant mokhayr?!"

        "Jana vakhayr eazizere.  Quadha katait dhallutrucs Baldwi-"

        "Jana huna haqqusszhte lerrijarsszh, sszhiidha jent dhahlaisszh, voulaa neledae verriaka-"

        "Th-that...by the GODS tha-that's Ivalician!  That is my mother tongue!"

        "Wait, it IS?!" cried the scientist.

        "Sh-sh-shhh!"

        "Voulayk devran vousul levalaa totma pousil tromkhidae, shaqere."

        "Hey...havez-val sszharnendu quelkhsszhaan maintalan?"

The recording stopped.  Haytham had listened to the rest intently as he parsed the rest of the dialogue with two fingers pressed to his mouth.

        "That is most definitely Ivalician...I cannot believe-this...th-this is extraordinary that you opened a gate to my home, when was this?!"

        "About seven years ago," she replied, "was around four-hundred-and-eleven days before we spoke to you and James."

        "My...gods!"  He slumped back in his seat with a hand to his head.  "Ha ha ha, what a coincidence, I do not know what to make of this!"

        "But what did they say, who are they?"

        "Well, first one began with 'look out!' in response to your portal frightening them, then one asked the other if he was alright and then they tried to inquire about the portal which they could not understand.  There was two of them, brothers, bangaa most certainly."

        "Bangaa?"

        "A reptilian race of my world, the accent gave that away, having a rather unfortunate lisp as detriment to their peoples.  But there was a third voice who bantered with them, some sordid reference but his accent was most strange.  Cannot quite place it, partly Valendian but with some undertones like that of the sky corsairs."

        "So, two reptile brothers, and a third guy?"

        "That is best I can tell you, nothing of importance unfortunately."

        "It's fine.  Still that's kind of strange, I mean I know you guys came here by yourselves but-"

        "Indeed!  Perhaps...I wonder if our arrival here has some destined merit do you think?"

        "You believe in destiny?" she asked cocking her head.

        "I believe in the stars aligning our course, and if they have led us here, then there is nothing more I can say."

        "Hah, right, the astrology thing...wait, how did YOU leave your world?"

        "Ahhh...now that."  He leaned himself forwards with a wide-bearded grin.  "That, was the greatest accident of my entire life but I shall tell you that another time, right now I have more questions to ask YOU if you shall permit."

        "Heh...alright, sure, I love a man with a li'l mystery about him."

        "You alrigh' dab?" asked Holt.

        "Yes," said Oddie, "but this is too tight."

        "Oh sorry."

Sitting in the locker room two days after reading with James, Oddclaw watched the human soldier tie plastic covers to his hands and feet, moulded especially to fit his claws and cover them safely.  He wore only a pair of flashy shorts, the fabric soft and breathable with a hole in the back for his tail.

        "Right, yer all set!"  He stood up patting his shoulder.  "You remember all I taught ya?"

        "Yes," replied the raptor standing up with him, "punch the air, lead them close, push and kick."

        "Thaaaat's righ', people don' react well to gettin' pushed, that moment of bein' off-balance at thuh start of any fight's gonna help ya.  Don't do it every fight though, we humans learn patterns."

        "Pat-terns, yes, I must change my pat-terns."

        "Good lad."

He wrapped his arm across his scaled shoulders and walked him out of the locker room.  Lights burst upon their eyes as an overwhelming sea of noise began to roar from every direction.  The T.E.A.R. Bi-Annual Tournament had arrived with camaraderie and good cheer, hoping to bolster people's spirits up before their traditional holiday season in December.  The largest gym was packed to the nines with humans and robots alike watching the lights burning down upon the central boxing ring, the fighters lined up along the sides all waiting for a chance to to see who was the strongest in the place.  It was not the first time Oddclaw had seen the fights, having watched them once or twice in order to see how humans fared in combat even if it was just playfighting.  But it was the first time for him to take part in it against the entire human bracket.

        "LLLLLLLLADIIIIIIIIIIES AAAAAAAND GENTLEMEEEEEEEEN, PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWWWWWWWW FIGHTERRRRRRRRRS!"

The crowd frantically screamed with excitement, despite there being only around 108 human beings including the upcoming fighters, the noise was much louder than Oddclaw expected, even with the 33 extra robots that now joined the audience in their own clamouring anticipation.  The smell of adrenaline burned in the raptor's nostrils, roasting heat from the bodies surrounding him that in turn made his own blood start to boil with eagerness to fight.

        "This is EVERY human here?!" asked Oddclaw.

        "Yup sure is!" barked Holt.  "Wotcha think?!"

        "...I wish my family were here."

        "Awww, sorry dab.  But we are recordin' it yanno, maybe Jane'll get sum way to show it to 'em, fly out a big TV to yer family or whutnot."

        "That would be good, yes!"

        "Right, now, you remember the rules we went over?"

        "No biting, no gouging, no headbutting, no spitting, no grabbing clothes, no groin attacks, no attacking here," he tapped the back of his neck, "no throat attacks...uhhhhh-"

        "No downwards elbow strikes like this," Holt did a downslam with his elbow demonstrating such, "that's illegal, no grabbing sumbody's mouth, no stomping, no attacking the head when sumbody's down, no grabbin' sumbody's fingers or toes to break 'em, an' no twisting the flesh."

        "Right, okay I un-derstand."

As the fighters took their places with the bracket sorting itself out, Andrea watched from the bleachers along with Jane, Haytham and James who was invested in the competition.  The student gasped with eyes alight as if he were witnessing a sacred ceremony, humbled yet honoured with gleeful anticipation.

        "What sort of style do your people use?" asked Durai to Andrea.

        "Ohhh all kinds," she said back, "karate, jiujitsu, wrestling, taekwondo, there's a lotta different martial arts we got from around the world."

        "I cannot wait!" cried James leaning to see them.  "I-i have never seen martial arts, I do know about weapon styles however, do you humans have those?"

        "Oh we have those yeah, but not as often nowadays since swords and staffs are kinda not as often used, but they're still around."

        "Are there any of those in this tournament?"

        "Nope, it's just all bare-handed stuff here."

        "I'm only here to support Oddie," said Jane unemphatically crossing her arms, "can't be bothered with this sort of thing myself."

        "I'm just here cuz I'm the chief physicist and representing my coworkers in trying their best."

        "Alright then, whatever you say."

        "What's that supposed to mean?!" bantered Andrea.

        "Nothing, nothing at all!"

        "No no no that never means nothin' with you Jane."

        "Never bloody mind."

She slumped herself back in a huff as they said nothing, turning their heads back towards the contestants as they prepared themselves to fight.  Haytham leaned forwards along with James who was rapt with attention, the bracket decided out of twelve contestants involving seven males and five females.  The first two rounds went by smoothly, a swarthy Cuban lady who went by traditional boxing and won against a Swedish man who learned Aikido, followed by a Canadian who practiced mixed martial arts succeeding against another fellow Canadian that performed karate.  Soon it was Oddclaw's turn, as the announcer hyped up the crowd even more with Jane and Andrea whooping at the back.

        "AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR TOURNAMENT WE HAVE A NEW CONTENDER!  INTRODUCING, THE CRETACEOUS KILLER, THE TRIASSIC TERROR HIMSELF!  OOOOOOODD, CLAWWWWWWW!"

        "WHOOOOO YEAAAAH ODDIE!"

        "DO YOUR BEST ODDIE!"

He stepped up into the ring as Holt coached him in, sitting at the side with towel and basic first aid.  Standing on the canvas he looked around upon the dozens of creatures chanting his name and a smile drew across his face.  He spotted his friends here and there, Jane and Andrea at the back, Kevin along with Ribose and Adenine whooping it up in the siderow and Holt giving a thumbs up to him at the corner.

        "AND HIS FIRST OPPONENT, ALL THE WAY FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER, THE KILLER SOUTHERN CROSS!  ANTHONYYYYYY, SHIMAMOTOOOOOO!"

Again the crowd went shrieking as Oddie turned towards his opponent.  A man of Asian descent with sallow skin and short black hair who assumed a boxing stance, blue gloves thickly pounding each other as the referee came in to bring the two close.  Oddclaw recognised her as drill instructor Shimura, the lady that taught him how to shoot from years ago.

        "Alright you both know the rules?" she asked them.

        "Yes," replied both fighters.

        "Good, now when I say stop then you both stop no matter what, got it?"

        "Yes."

        "Alright...FIGHT!"

The bell rang as Anthony put up his guard ready to gauge his new opponent out.  Oddclaw waited, reading the man's body as he made a soft jab forwards to his face, the raptor dodging his head to one side whilst keeping place as the human delivered a two-hit punch.  Oddclaw was forced to block the second punch to protect his head, raising his gloved hands and leaving his stomach exposed for a driving punch that caused him to wince.  Tightening his muscles he stood his ground and shoved the boxer away with a full straight thrust to his head, following up with a massive booting kick to the chin that cracked the human's head backwards.  He staggered hard leaving himself wide open for Oddclaw to rush in with a turning leg sweep that knocked him straight to the floor, followed by a brutal axe kick to the chest that left Anthony coughing hard.

The rest of the fight went the same way, Oddclaw always keeping himself out of the human's short range with his tremendous kicks until one footslam too many sent Shimamoto down to the canvas in their second of three rounds per fighter.  His next opponent was a greater challenge, an English woman called Moira Anderson skilled in the art of taekwondo.  She was a foot smaller than him, which belied her ruthless strength when she came forwards with a three-point lunging punch and followed with two hard strikes of the knee into his gut.  He grabbed her shoulders and at first had the urge to headbutt her, but halfway through rearing his head back he remembered the rules and spun his leg out underneath her feet.  She didn't fall easily thanks to her shorter height stabilising her, as Moira fell into a swift dodgeroll away from Oddie and goaded him to attack with taunting fingers.

The raptor did not take the bait, moving forwards as she walked in turn waiting for the other to strike.  He made a swiping strike for her face as she dodged, twisting her body into a full leg sweep that he jumped over before seeing her stand halfway up and swing her leg round a second time for a powerful roundhouse kick.  He blocked fast with both arms slamming against her knee, grabbing her leg to strike his elbow hard at her chin and crush her nose with burning searing pains through her skull.  She blinked with staggering throbs in her temples as he waited for her to attack again.  Then came the purest fury of Moira Anderson as she screamed with charging rage, jumping into a full flying kick that pounded her foot into Oddclaw's sternum, sending him falling hard into a roll as she came right after the moment he got back on his feet.  Her blows were vicious, rabid hard punches left and right until Oddclaw was being forced back onto the ropes, elbows crushing both sides of his face as he suddenly grabbed her in a clinching hug.  It was the cue for the referee to come in and force them apart before too much damage was taken.

He felt one of his eyes bruising thick as Holt between rounds nursed his burning hot wounds with warm water, disinfectant and occasional bits of advice.

        "How ya holdin' up?"

        "G-guh...sh-she is strong," mumbled Oddie.

        "But you're stronger, you know that dab!  Lissen, ah seen that she really loves to go in hard with ya, so you gotta use that to yer advantage.  Let her come at ya, next time she goes chargin', throw her to thuh ropes then bounce her back to you an' BAM!"  He smacked his hands together.  "Foot in her face."

        "Alright, I will try that."

        "Now drink up."

He drank the water offered and soon they were in round three.  Moira was ready to come out swinging as Oddclaw took a deep breath and opened his eyes far as he could to resist the stinging welts on his face.  The fighter came close, being cautious as she took a few jabs at his face, testing his reflexes whilst he dodged and guarded, the two hopping in a circle round each other until she swung out with a turning side kick.  Oddclaw blocked with one arm and followed with his own hard side kick that punched her in the shoulder.  She responded with a rushing jab that knocked him square on the snout, but he steeled up against it by headbutting the gloved fist and shutting down her momentum.  He wrapped an arm round the back of her neck and forced her down towards his knee which came spearing hard into her face, crying with bloodied fury as her face became red with bloodlust.  She shoved him back with a violent pushing kick to his chest, driving her whole foot against him like a rocket in order to shoot herself backwards into a rolling dodge and get a distance between them.  Then she made her flying charge kick.

Oddclaw was ready, waiting for her to fly before sidestepping fast and reversing their positions.  Before she had time to turn he drove his foot into her back with a charged side kick to shove her into the ropes and bounced her back, before a second hopping side kick that met her face as soon as she turned herself round in mid-recoil.  The crushing heel of the raptor sent her down like a caber to the face, too dazed to even pull herself back up.  He tried to help her up once the bell had rung, but she snatched her arm away from him with wounded pride and a scowling face, ignoring the whooping cheer of Kevin nearby whilst Adenine held up a banner they made of the raptor's snarling face and gouging claws.

        "YEAAAAAH ODDIE YOU GO DINOMIGO!"

        "WHOOOO COME ON YER HALFWAY THERE!" cried Ribose.  "DON'T STOP, LET'S SHOW THESE HUMANS WHAT YER MADE OF!"

        "OOODDCLAW, OOODDCLAW, OOODDCLAW!"

        "OOODDCLAW, OOODDCLAW, OOODDCLAW!"

He blushed from the attention as he walked back to the locker room with Jeremy to rest for the next fight, the fighters not being allowed to watch matches so they would not be able to pre-emptively learn their opponents' moves.  Whilst the other bracket began their fight for deciding the raptor's next opponent, the lemming and Ivalician were writing down their observations.

        "Notice the propensity for leg-based attacks," said Haytham, "that style seems to focus more on ranging your opponent than actual offence."

        "It is interesting," replied James, "some of these styles are much more aggressive than others but then you have this one the um...what was that lady using?"

        "Taekwondo," said Andrea clapping hands above her head after a nasty hammerfist strike, "it's a Korean style based around self-defence."

        "Are not all these styles for self-defence?"

        "No, some of them are more focused to be absolutely aggressive, some are more competitive and technical, whilst some are specifically built for self-defence."

        "Aaaaaaah I see, that explains it then!  What of Oddclaw's style, what purpose does it have?"

        "That I don't know, you'd have to ask Holt down there."

        "He said it was Savate," explained Jane in a slouching stoop, "he learned it in France back in the war and apparently it used to be for protecting yourself on the lawless streets, but over time it became more of a competitive style."

        "So it began as protection," queried Haytham scribbling it down, "before becoming adapted to a gamesmanship style.  This place known as France is it normally lawless?"

        "No, but in World War Two it was divided in two between the occupied side of an invading army and the free republic who fought against, so many people learned to fight when they had no weapons."

        "That was the Nazi invasion yes?!" piped up James like an excited schoolboy.  "In the year nineteen-hundred-and-forty of anno domini!"

        "Y-yes!  Yes actually h-how did you-"

        "I read up on your world history!  There is an INCOMPARABLE wealth of knowledge concerning this second world war, it was fascinating!"

        "Well if you want more," said Andrea with knowing finger pointed at him, "you know Jeremy's from that war himself."

        "H-he is?!  Oh...h-how fortuitous, I-i would love to ask him about it but only if he wished to, I do not want to disturb him-O-OHHH GOODNESS!"

        "OOOOOOH!"  The scientist sucked in her teeth at a crunching blow.  "God I'd be amazed that guy has any teeth left."

        "Is it not counterintuitive to have such combat in a small garrison of vital numbers?" asked Durai curling his beard beneath.

        "It helps let off some steam," said Addison leaning to face him, "we've been trapped here for almost twice the number of years we thought we would be, so I supported it for the sake of our mental health."

        "Hmm, that is true, I only worry then about your medicinal supplies."

        "Our chief medic knows how to recycle and synthesize many things from the environment around us, there's a medicine cabinet right along the shore called the Sunmoon Jungle."

        "Ahhhh I see you have an apothecarist, well that is fortunate!"

        "OH wait, Oddie's back!"

They all looked on as the raptor's next opponent was chosen in the form of a large heavyweight woman who practiced Greco-Roman wrestling.  He recognised her as one of the cafeteria workers, announced as Stephanie Kostopoulos from Greece with huge pale olive arms and sturdy legs like tree trunks supporting a round muscular gut.  She was even taller than him at around 6'6'', but he braced himself for the fight with fearless curiosity as the bell rang and she lunged for him.  Sliding underneath her grappling arms he punched into her sides but she felt practically nothing, swinging out a haymaker behind her to bash him across the face with her meaty limb as he staggered back.  Stephanie turned fast and made a bullcharge at him, thundering across the canvas as he dodgerolled to sweep and strike at the back of her legs which slightly buckled, but not enough to stop her as she swung herself down on top of him with a crushing body slam.  He screeched from the impact, groaning from her sheer weight until she moved herself to grab one of his arms and crush it between her legs before twisting it to its limit.

Oddclaw screamed with fury, resisting the urge to bite her with snarling teeth as she tightened her grip, squeezing between her thick thighs as he felt the blood circulation fading in his limb.  He tried to lean into the armbar hold to give some relief to the pain but she pulled back further, until he decided to bounce his entire body upwards, crunch his body in half and swing his legs towards her with a double kick that wrapped his feet round her neck, strangling her powerfully.  In his new position the armbar was less painful, and with a more dangerous grip choking the life out of her it was only a matter of time before she would tap out.  Which she did around 30 seconds later.

The final match now awaited him.  People were shocked and excited for the non-human newcomer to show his stuff as he sat in the locker room drinking water, clearing up his wounds and taking deep breaths to focus.

        "Alrigh' dab," began Holt," now you've come this far, it's time to go all out.  Ah notice you tend to dodge left quite often, try to move right more often."

        "Okay," he said, "I wonder who I have to fight."

        "Not allowed to tell ya, but just do yer best.  You already got this far, there's no shame in losin' now, remember we're all friends 'ere."

        "I know it is just playfighting.  But I still want to win!"

        "That's thuh spirit!" said Holt slapping Oddie's shoulder before giving him a smooch to the lips.  "Get out there an' make me proud."

        "I will."

The raptor responded with a deeper kiss to the human soldier, suckling his lips upon the bristly moustache and sliding his tongue within Jeremy's warm throat.  Both of them mumbled sweet things in the hot suckling embrace as Oddie wrapped his arm round the back of his neck and shivered hotly.  They both pulled away with a gentle silk thread between their lips as Oddclaw asked:

        "If I win...I get to top you tonight."

        "Hmhahaha, alright fair do's," said Holt pulling him up, "but if you lose, then yer arse is mine after this."

        "Deal-A-AAAH!"

The veteran smacked Oddclaw's rump to bolster him out the door once he was announced.  Strolling through the crowd with an eager face he slipped back into the ring and put his hands up for the audience to cheer for him again as the announcer came blaring over the ceiling.

        "AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE AAAAALLLLLL BEEN WAITING FOR, THE FINAL BRACKET OF OUR TOURNAMENT!  CONGRATULATIONS ODDCLAW, YOUUUU'RE ONLY ONE STEP AWAY FROM BECOMING A CHAMPION, BUT!  YOU'LL HAVE TO BEAT OUR CURRENT CHAMPION FIRST!"

The lights went out.  The crowd turned silent as he was left standing upon the ring.  His shadow stretched across the canvas when a single spotlight glared through the sea of darkness and rested upon a lonesome figure.  It walked towards him with echoing footsteps, hard boots clacking upon the solid floor as he watched them approach.  Eyes followed the shape until it stepped into the ring and the spotlights above the canvas showed his next opponent much to the raptor's shock.

        "S-s-s-...SIR?!"

        "Surprise."

Standing before him with hands behind his back was Thomas Brightman in his usual military uniform, which hung unbuttoned upon his shoulders with sleeves empty as he kicked his boots off to stand before him in bare feet.

        "I was hoping you'd make it up here."

        "R-...r-really?" asked Oddie.

        "Ohhhh yes.  You've been a big help, despite the fact it took me a long time to warm up to you.  But now..."  He grabbed one of his shoulders and threw the uniform off in one sweep.  "Time to show me what you REALLY are."

The crowd went wild with anticipation as the shock and awe became overwhelming at the sight of the Major-General's half-naked body.  Oddclaw had never seen him without his uniform, but even he was taken aback by how muscular his body was for a middle-aged man.  He wasn't large nor was his chest wide, but his torso reminded Oddie of a hard-rooted tree with gnarled thick branches for arms.  Scars and burns littered across his skin, his left shoulder showing a tattoo of a military badge of a yellow shield with black diagonal stripe and a small horse's head upon it.  His right arm also had a tattoo, of three long black arrows that stretched diagonally downwards across his bicep muscle.  Andrea gasped along with Jane and their new guests who were shocked at his approach.

        "Ohhhh shit," muttered Dixon, "he's really gonna come out fighting."

        "Wh-what?!" gasped Addison.  "Wh-what is he DOING?!"

        "I think he's about to show Oddie that lesson in respect he always wanted to give him."

        "You once told me," began Thomas smiling, "that in your tribe no one would dare fight the alpha unless they wanted to take his place, right?"

        "Yes," said Oddclaw, "but...I do not want to take your place, I did not expect to fight you!"

        "Hahaha I know that, but you know I have had to let you off so many times for all that smart-mouthing you did back when we first met.  Now maybe people wanna put it down to maybe getting my back on you for calling me a sour kangaroo all those years or just wanting to test my skill against a new and challenging opponent.  But the real reason?"

He stepped forwards with cracking knuckles inside his fists.

        "I've always wanted to fight a dinosaur with my bare hands, just like the Hulk."

The smile he gave Oddie was frightening, almost gleeful in the upcoming violence as it made the raptor balk beneath the overwhelming scent of testosterone that Thomas exhuded.  The referee stepped in and repeated her mantra for making sure they knew the rules before allowing them to fight, but Thomas offered a hand to shake and made a curtsy of respect.

        "Don't worry I still like you, hell I think you're one of the best things that ever happened to this base.  I just wanna see what you're made of is all, and I respect you enough to not go easy on you.  It's just another playfight, right?"

        "Yes...alright."  He shook the human's hand with a smile of relief.  "I will do my best."

        "By the way, this being the final round, there are no breaks.  We fight until one of us is done, you got it?"

        "Yes.  I am ready."

        "Good.  May the best fighter win.  Cuz now...I'm gonna show you what this sour kangaroo is made of."

        "Alright, ready?!" cried Shimura.  "Set...FIGHT!"

The battle was on, Thomas waited as he moved into a fighting stance with both arms crooked and fists tight before him, his feet flexing slightly into a slightly-bowed posture for balance.  Oddclaw steadied himself with firm stiff back and guarding arms before approaching the Major-General.  He tested his reflexes with a few thrusting jabs as Brightman swerved with a hooking punch that bapped him across the snout.  Harmless dull sting but it was a warning nonetheless as he circled around him waiting for the chance to strike.  Thomas came out with a controlled knifehand strike swiping for the raptor's forehead as Oddie ducked and turned with a furious uppercut that the human dodged back from.  Stepping two feet back, he lured the raptor in with the right distance for a kick as Oddie came forth with a thrusting front kick.  He dodged to the side grabbing the scaled leg before driving his knee hard into the backside of Oddclaw's shin, shrieking from the shock before Thomas came down with a hammerfist hard into the raptor's chest with such force that he fell straight onto the canvas with a booming thud.

Coughing harshly he forced himself back up as Thomas waited, cracking his fingers in a full flex before Oddie resumed his stance.  He came with two lunging swings as Brightman dodged both, countering with a hard strike using the palm at its heel to punch Oddclaw's snout inwards that caused his eyes to water.  He struggled not to squint and bared his teeth before grabbing Thomas' arm and slamthrusting his knee twice into the man's chest, before throwing him out at arm's length to drive his side kick hard into Brightman's waist.  Gasping with a soft clutch to his belly, the Major-General smirked with a wince as he came charging, turning his body with a feinting strike that made Oddclaw think he was going to do a roundhouse kick.  But he bent his leg back in and hopped from one foot to the other before spinning with his back towards Oddie and surprised him with a vicious horse-style back kick right into the stomach.

        "GUUUUH!"

He stumbled with shaking breaths, wheezing as he went onto his knees from the burning bruise that flowered inside his belly before taking a deep firm breath and pushing himself back on both feet.  Thomas beckoned him with taunting fingers but Oddclaw refused to fall for it, stepping forwards only halfway and gesturing him to do the same.  The human obliged with open arms and strode forwards calmly, flashing a glare of intent in his eyes that warned the raptor of his next move when he saw his arm tense up for a full cross-body haymaker.  He ducked fast before swerving to his right when Thomas tried to thrust his knee towards his bowing face, the raptor grabbing his raised leg and furiously dragging him hard behind to send him down onto the floor.  The commander sneered and tried to twist his body to boot Oddie in the face, but the raptor grabbed his other foot and locked them hard beneath his armpits and tried to throw him in a giant half-swing, sending him across the canvas.

Oddclaw managed to send Brightman towards one of the ring's turnstile corners, rushing over to take him down before he had a chance to fully recover.  But Thomas felt the pounding feet behind and grabbed the turnstile to balance himself and strike the charging raptor with a hard hooking kick that clipped across his head, staggering him slightly but not enough to stop his assault as he pinned the human against the ring corner and began pummelling him frantically.  The audience was screeching before them, the sweltering crowd roaring and cheering for both of them as Thomas threw ups his arms to block his face, which Oddclaw tried to get around by punching the sides of his head until the American had his chance.  Mentally gauging the rhythm of the punches, he thrust one hand out between them to knock the fist away and suddenly wrap his arm round Oddclaw's neck, before pulling him hard to the ground in a rolling chokehold.  His other arm pushed against the hand that was crushing the raptor's throat, not enough to wound him but certainly enough to frighten the raptor into submission if he had to.

        "Know what I call THIS?!"

        "H-HHRRRRRGHKH!"

        "S'called a guillotine choke.  They taught me this to be a lethal move in close combat, but you're a good kid.  You only get to taste a fraction of my real strength.

        "Gh-rhhhhgkh...I-i...th-thought you were not holding b-back."

        "Hahahah...trust me, if I didn't hold back I would have broken your legs and choked you dry...I'm sure you'd have killed me already if you didn't hold back."

        "Y-yes...I would have...but I do NOT...give in."

        "No?  Well you either tap out or you go unconscious, so which is it Oddie?"

        "I...tap YOU out!"

He suddenly rolled towards the turnstile until he was on top, pushing both feet hard against the solid pole and driving his head back against Thomas' skull to stun him fiercely.  It was enough to surprise him into weakening his hold as Oddclaw exploded his arms out from under the human's fingers and quickly staggered up out of his reach, gasping with coughing chokes and a slightly tender throat before rushing straight back towards him.  The soldier swung his body downwards into a leg sweep but the raptor leapt over his strike to land with a flying punch to the human's head, knocking him down to the floor once again and following with a sheer striking axe kick from above into Thomas' chest.  Roaring with a sharp pain into his sternum he rolled towards Oddie's foot and drove his fist into the back of his knee to send him down in turn and pile on top of him.  Brightman whalloped him thrice across the face before the raptor blocked his next punch and forced him to roll with a hard tug of his arms until he laid on top.

        "Such aggression!" gasped James from his seat with hand over his mouth.  "What...what sort of style would warrant such hostility?!"

        "Krav Maga," said Andrea nervously scratching her ear, "most martial arts are built around self-defence, but this one?  THIS was a style made to kill your enemies before they even think of killing you."

        "Oh god," whimpered Jane, "c-can't he j-just-FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP IT THOMAS!"

        "Why so fearful?!" asked Durai.  "Is this not a sparring tourney?"

        "I DON'T LIKE SEEING MY BOY GET HURT!"

        "Your...boy?"

Her face turned red with shocking blush and she became quiet all of a sudden, but they said nothing in response.  Gripping her hair with both hands at the sight of her leader tussling with the raptor, the audience themselves were starting to get nervous at how ruthless that Thomas was fighting.

The two had managed to force themselves apart and back on their feet as he came flying towards Oddie with a furious five-hit combo of which three of his punches landed across his face.  Oddclaw bore through the pain with a rooted stance and grabbed the human's incoming sixth punch, yanking his arm past his cheek to slam his elbow powerfully between his opponent's eyes.  The shocking blur of red that flashed through Brightman's eyes made him step back swiftly to reassert himself, squinting to get his sight back before he strafed fast to the raptor's left and came lunging with a haymaker that he dodged, chasing after him with a roundhouse kick that Oddclaw swooped underneath.  The moment they turned to face each other Thomas came forth with a slap-striking crescent kick that smacked both sides of the raptor's face, hooking his knee sharply before pulling it back like a piston to propel his foot hard into Oddclaw's stomach.  The raptor shook his head clear before the thrusting foot and swerved out of its path, countering with his own triple-kick against the human's knee, waist and shoulder in rapid sequence.  Thomas stood his ground until the raptor anticipated his twitching leg that braced for another hard roundhouse kick, strafing fast and socking him square into the jaw with a slashing punch.

Brightman grabbed his face, burning from the gouging pain of a blunt scraping glove that scored across his flesh to leave a hard red trace.  He came back with a vengeance, roaring as he came for an overhead swing to crush the raptor's head downwards, but Oddie dodged fast and slammed a powerful uppercut into his nose, bursting it with bubbles tinted red from his nostrils.

        "NNRRRRRAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The raptor stuttered with fright at the man's fury as he screamed, barging towards him like a quarterback to slam his shoulder straight into Oddclaw's face.  Grabbing him by the neck he drove his knee hard enough to make him screech and cough with a dry-vomiting wheeze before pushing him to the side and thrusting a hard karate-style kick into his snout, crushing it to send twin bloodied spurts straight out of his nostrils.  His eyes blurred from the throbbing anguish, licking the hot fluid that trailed down to his lips as he waited for Thomas to charge.  The human rushed him with incensed battle thrall as the raptor braced his legs for the right moment.  The wild swing of the American's fist was a feint, but it was all he needed as he backflipped with all his might, swinging out his legs to strike the very tips of his rubber-protected claws to strike twice upon his chin.  Thomas almost fell back completely, but he stomped his foot behind him in a hard forceful posture and ran straight towards Oddclaw with a heavy football kick into the chest.  He fell back against the ropes, springing him back towards Brightman who responded with one vicious elbow slam into the side of his face.

Oddclaw fell.  His skull was throbbing, his eyes became blurry as he shuddered on his knees.  Thomas was gasping above him, restless breaths pouring from his throat as the raptor tried to force himself up.  He couldn't.  He tried again but he only fell.  The third time however he just managed, propping himself on one knee and grunting with the last of his effort to stand before the human.  Brightman gasped with a smile almost wanting to laugh at such ragged endurance, watching Oddclaw put up his guard once again as he threw a gliancing punch to test him.  The raptor smacked it down almost instantly and whalloped across Brightman's sweat-sodden cheeks, but he held his ground and grabbed Oddclaw's second punch to smash his elbow once again across his face like a hammer.  He almost fell again as his tail lashed out behind him struggling to reassert his balance.  The crowd became silent, the sounds of gasping breaths echoing through the hall as the man grabbed both of Oddie's arms and grinded his head against his snout, their eyes inches from each other.

        "Do you know...why I wanted to fight you?"

        "Y-you...gh-ghhuh!"

        "I had another reason, besides always wanting to fight...a dinosaur."

He pushed his hands down harder upon the raptor's limbs, coaxing him to fight back with a hard push of all his might against Thomas' sinewy grip.

        "I...wanted to know how far you will go to fight."

        "Wh-wh-why...th-this is just...playfighting."

        "But you learn what sort of fighter you are even when you play...right?"

        "NNNNGH!"

        "That's why your people fight, so you know what you'll do if your life depends on it.  That's why humans do this too."

Brightman squeezed his biceps harder as Oddclaw just managed to push the last of his energy into one explosive burst, gripping his hands upon the human's limbs and slamming them away from his body.  But Thomas had his counter ready when he immediately swung his arms back together with a double hammerfist, the momentous whip from the recoil making his attack twice as strong to crush Oddclaw's head between his hands.  Dull deafening forces shook through him as the raptor finally conceded with a stumbling fall, first to his knees and then planting his head upon the sweet cold canvas.  The referee had been carefully moving round the perimeter and slipped right back in to see if Oddclaw was fine.  He was breathing, wounded but breathing.

        "Are you alright?" she asked him.  "Can you still fight?"

        "N-no," he murmured, "I...I lost.  I know I have."

        "Alright."  She motioned to Holt to come help him up as she took Brightman's hand.  "THE WINNER REMAINS, OUR CURRENT CHAMPION, THOMAAAAAAAAAS, BRRRRIGHTMAAAAAAAN!"

The roaring ocean seethed with praise and adulation for him, chanting both for Thomas and Oddclaw even as he walked over to lend a hand to his opponent.  Jeremy walked up and lifted the raptor, slinging one arm round his shoulder to carefully help him back to their bench for recovery, with Thomas putting his arm round the raptor's waist and lifting his legs slightly for comfort.

        "You did well dab," said Holt, "done yer damnedest I'll say."

        "I agree," said Thomas smiling amidst sputtering bloodied teeth, "sorry about giving you the full treatment."

        "I-it is fine," mumbled Oddclaw through a swollen cheek, "you are a good fighter sir...very strong."

        "You wanna know something good about you?  You're the second-strongest fighter around here."

        "Wh-what?"

        "No one, has ever lasted that long against me.  Normally that fight would've ended two minutes ago, but you?  Fuck, you had me worried, I started to hold back around the end cuz I didn't wanna put you in a coma."

        "I-i take...playfighting very seriously."  The raptor smiled with red teeth and a purple eye.  "I had fun."

        "I did too," said Thomas winking through the deep reddened groove across his face, "cuz now I have hope for you."

        "H-h...hope?"

        "I wanted to see if you would be the kind of father who would fight his hardest no matter what.  If you can last against me for that long, then I know you'll make a good father."

        "I...s-so what does that mean?" asked Oddclaw slowly laying down upon the bench.

        "It means you've earned my respect," said the officer now kneeling himself before him.  "You already had it before for all the work you've done for us, but this was more for my sake.  I needed to know how far you would go for your family."

        "I would die for them."

        "Well let's hope not THAT far.  But..." he offered his hand to shake.  "You'll be the best father I've ever known."

        "Tha-...thank you."  He shook his hand weakly.  "I am honoured to hear that."

        "Wot seriously?!" cried Holt between them.  "You wanted to bash his face in because of THAT?!"

        "Well...yeah!" replied Thomas shrugging.

        "Fuck's sake you American bastard, always about punchin' yer way through life!"

        "Hey-ey I'm still your commanding officer.  And I know what you've been up to in France so you got no right to talk."

        "Hmhmhahahaha, well fair do's then."

As the audience cheered with hands waving and clapping with good show to all fighters who had partaken tonight, Andrea got up from her seat whilst Kevin rushed over to where Oddie laid to check up on him.

        "Will he be alright?!" cried James biting his fingers gently.

        "Of course he'll be," said Andrea, "Thomas isn't gonna choke him out like that, he just had to see for himself how strong Oddie is."

        "I understand but I feel that the fight should have ended earlier."

        "Maybe...Jane, you wanna come back to my place an-...Jane?"

But she was gone, hurrying out of the exit with a fitful rage and slamming the door behind her.  Dixon sighed with hands spread in fatigue as she turned towards the student and his master.

        "I got some work to do back up at the lab, you wanna join?"

        "Verily!" cried Haytham lifting himself from his seat.  "I would be delighted to partake in your company."

        "Wh-where is miss Jane?" asked the lemming.

        "She was tired and went back to her room," said the scientist scratching her cheek, "we can catch up with her tomorrow."

        "Alright then."

        "You FOUGHT their alpha?!" cried Fishclaw.

        "Only a playfight," explained Odd still covered in bruises, "the hairless have their strongest warriors playfight nearly every cycle whilst the whole tribe watches."

        "Can they all fight?" asked Shadetooth walking beside him.

        "I believe so, they must learn to so as to survive in our world."

        "I have not seen much of them, but they look awfully weak, no claws and dull teeth, if not for the stones they wear and the fire they wield they would be dead already!"

        "Agreed," said Fishclaw tipping his snout to her, "the only thing they seem to have better than us is their mastery of stone and fire."

        "I always found it odd they need to live in caves, even moreso they have to MAKE their own caves!"

        "That is how they live," shrugged the smaller raptor between them, "I do not understand them fully."

        "But you do understand them more than us."

        "AND they managed to heal you again," said Fishclaw, "how did you heal so quickly after such a brutal fight?!"

        "The hairless use plants," replied Oddclaw rubbing one of his bruised shoulders, "they crush them and grind them into water to heal themselves in different ways."

        "Barkclaw should join them, he knows much more about the plants than anyone in our family."

A week had passed since the fight, along with an intensive recovery period that Kevin had systematically prepared for all tournament fighters including Oddclaw to heal most of his wounds.  The swellings had gone down and he now only had bruises or joint pains to contend with whilst he walked with Fishclaw's family, their hatchlings now around the age of 9 human years.  At this point they could hardly be called hatchlings when the five of them now all stood around 5 feet, traipsing along the borders of the forest that lied to the west of their home.

        "Hey uncle Oddclaw, you wanna playfight?!"

        "Um, alright!" he cried.  "If your parents allow it!"

        "Later Shadefoot," said Shadetooth chuckling, "first we track our prey, then we playfight."

        "Awwww okayyyy...why are you not as big as father?"

        "That is just the way I was born," replied Odd patiently, "but because I am smaller, I am faster and I can climb the trees."

        "Wow, c-can I see you climb them!?"

Bracing himself as he limbered up his somewhat-sore limbs with a little hop and arm-swing, he raced towards the closest tree and scrabbled up its bark with firm claws digging deep into the wood, clambering as best he could whilst gritting through the dull pains that still throbbed through his body.  Sitting up onto a branch he waved down at his nephew before swinging himself back to the ground with an acrobatic half-spin, landing with a heavy thud and a soft groan as Fishclaw rushed over to him.

        "Wha-Oddclaw stop that!"

        "Nnnngh...n-no I am fine, really!"

        "You just managed to heal yourself now please try not to break your legs."

        "Alriiiight."

He smirked towards Shadefoot who grinned in approval at his uncle's antics whilst both of them observed Fishclaw and Shadetooth schooling their children.

        "Wingclaw, do not eat that!"

        "Nnnnfff but fatherrrr!"

        "We are here to hunt proper food, not snap up smallwings like some swamp beast, you will get sick!"

        "Nuh I won't!"

        "If you eat those now you will not have any of our food later!"

        "Mother, mother look!"  A proud son came running up with a large shrew dangling from his mouth.  "I killed it myself mother, i-it was in a hole!"

        "Oh, very GOOD!" cried Shadetooth nuzzling him.  "I am so proud of you Deepsnout!"

        "D-do you want to eat it mother?"

        "Oh, thank you!"

She gladly tucked in, ripping the head off the small beast and cruching it in her jaws to swallow and lap at the blood spittling out of the severed neckhole.  The mother raptor licked her dull-coloured fangs with relish after stripping its husk dry of flesh and fluids before turning to see her mate lecturing one of their daughters.

        "Earthfang stay close!" called her father.  "We hunt as a pack, we only separate when we find prey to trap."

        "But fatherrrr I wanna track this time!"

        "You went tracking the last hunt, it is your sister's turn now."

        "B-BUT, BUT I'M THE BEST TRACKER!"

        "DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME!" he barked at her.  "If you are the only one who learns to track, what will happen when your brothers and sisters are lost without you?!"

        "WELL LET ME GO TRACK BY MYSELF!" she shrieked back to his face.  "I'M OLD ENOUGH!"

        "If you think tracking by yourself is a good plan then you are still a child."

        "SHUT UP, I CAN TRACK BETTER THAN YOU-A-AAAIIIIGH!"

The moment she bared her teeth fully towards her father she was taken down firmly by her mother who came at her from the side.  Her teeth dug in sharp, squeezing the muscles as Earthfang started kicking and screaming much to the awkwardness of all around her.

        "L-LET ME GOOOO!"

        "NEVER, speak back to your FATHER THAT WAY!"

        "AAAAAAAAARRRRGH!"

The more she struggled the tighter her mother's jaws became, suffocating her inch by inch as she allowed her daughter to tire herself out, breaths gasping like a dying fish in her shrieking fury as Fishclaw bent down towards her.

        "If you cannot learn to hunt with your pack-"

        "N-NNNNGUH!"

        "Then you are worthless as a hunter.  If you cannot hunt, you cannot eat, and if you cannot eat, then you will die."

        "I-I-GA-AAAAAARGH!"

        "You think you can hunt by yourself child, is that it?"  He pressed his snout to her eye and bared his teeth with a threatening breath.  "Do you think that you will ever survive without your family Earthfang?  Imagine those jaws are not your mother's, and in your arrogance...you let her attack you, and now here you are with the teeth of a greater beast at your throat.  Our tribe hunts and kills our prey swiftly...but there are other tribes..."

She stopped struggling as his voice deepened to a subdermal tremor.

        "They do not kill swiftly like us.  And if you let your anger control you, like it did just now...they will make you watch and they will eat you slowly.  Do you understand, Earthfang?"

        "Y-y-yes...y-yes, a-a-aah I'm s-s-sorry, I'm sorry I'M SORRYYY!"

        "Good.  Now get up."

She felt Shadetooth release her as she stumbled up with a trembling whimper of apology, nuzzling frantically at Fishclaw's snout for forgiveness as he licked her back in return.

        "S-sorry father...I will...I-i will learn better when it is my turn."

        "Good.  Now, Sandeyes!"  He turned towards his other daughter who scritched the ground fearfully.  "I want you to hunt around us and find ONE scent for us to follow.  Remember, a strong and different scent like before."

        "O-okay..."

Trotting forwards awkwardly, Sandeyes started to sniff around for a possible scent.  She tried the trees first but all the scents were either of her family or some basic warmblood.  She half-suspected that one of them may have been a different larger beast, but her confidence stilted.  She crossed away from the forest and onto the plains as she snuffled at the hillsteps.  Five minutes later in complete silence something whiffed past her nostrils.

        "OH, h-h-here, f-father I found something!"

He walked over and took a deep whiff.

        "Hmmmm...that is good, now what do you think it is?"

        "U-um...it...i-it is...um-"

        "Look around you.  Do not use one sense alone, use all of them."

The daughter flitted with eyes casting everywhere, seeing some of the grass had been bent to leave a foot impression around it.  One of the rocks was wet as she licked it.

        "W-water...some...something came from the water, then walked through here."

        "Goooood," coaxed Fishclaw.

        "It has big feet...thick and round it...I-i think it is a three-horn."

        "GOOD!  Very good Sandeyes, that is exactly what it is."

        "OH, y-yay!  D-do we hunt it now?"

        "We shall, but you are leading us today."

        "M-m-...me?!" squawked Sandeyes rearing her head back.

        "You lead us to hunt, if you fail then we will not have food to eat, that is how we must live.  So you must focus all of your senses on hunting this three-horn."

        "A-a-alright...father."

They followed the young female as she crept through the grass of the hillside.  Everyone behind her kept sharp with eyes and ears open, tracking the lonesome beast that had seemingly wandered from its pack, pressing her snout low to the ground with deepening sniffs towards the coastline.  The wide plains rose upwards to the cliff face and after a good seven minutes they found their target.  It was a rebellious-looking teenaged male, around 12 feet tall and 16 feet long as the smell of arousal indicated he was looking for a mate and had struck out on his own where he stood sniffing the cool breeze.

        "I-i found him!" whispered Sandeyes.

        "Well done, now keep quiet."  Fishclaw motioned everyone to crouch almost belly-flat against the grass.  "This one is young, but dangerous, he is stronger in his heat and will kill at first blood."

        "Wh-what do we do father?"

        "Your mother and I will lure him, Sandeyes, Shadefoot, you go with your uncle to the east.  Earthfang, Deepsnout and Wingclaw, you head to the west, wait for my signal."

The raptors murmured their approval and took up their positions.  Fishclaw and Shadetooth stood up and carefully approached, but not too carefully so as to warn the triceratops of their presence with intentionally-clumsy steps.  The beast pricked up his head and turned with a snarl towards the lonesome duo.

        "Well look at this," began the female, "a three-cocked beast with a dry tail."

        "I am certain those are horns," teased the male, "not very good ones but horns still."

        "Hahahaha, so what is THAT thing underneath him, unless he's made  friends with a worm!"

        "SHUT UP!" roared the trike.  "YOU WANNA KILL ME HUH!?  HUH, YOU WANT THIS MEAT WELL STEP RIGHT UP SO I CAN SHOVE IT UP YER VENT!"

        "HAH, I would not even feel you in me, but in my stomach you MIGHT make a filling meal."

        "RRRRRRAAAAAARGH!"

Thundering hard towards the raptors, he beared down upon them with horns shining of bloodlust as they waited for him to come close.  The ground shook with every step he galloped, their teeth grinning in eagerness to further coax his fury.

        "NOW!"

        "ATTAAAAACK!"

        "WHU-GA-AAAARGH GEDDOFF, GEDDOFF OF ME!"

All of a sudden six beasts jumped upon his sides, causing him to stumble and frantically stagger from the added weight unevenly clambering upon his hide.  Fishclaw and Shadetooth dodged out of his path as he wobbled back and forth, the blood tearing free from a dozen claws scarring his flesh amidst the ruthless biting along both sides of his spine.  Oddclaw was on top with his more dexterous namesake, trying to rake deep into the skin to pull it back and partly expose the spine, whilst two of the younger raptors fell off and rolled into the dirt.  One of them was almost trampled by the oncoming beast but Shadetooth charged him with a leaping strike kicking the side of his head hard enough to throw him off his path.  Oddclaw however remained on top of him, gouging and tearing away at the backflesh to anger the beast even more as he started running in a circle.

        "A-AAAAARRRRRRGH!  GET, OFF OF ME YOU FILTHY SHITCLAW!"

The triceratops lumbered with forceful rage, shaking and twisting his large body as best he could to dislodge the raptor off of it.  But the claws sunk in deep as Oddie went for a ride, feeling the bone just beneath his fingernails as he let the rampant male tire himself out whilst the others watched.  Sometimes the children would jump on again and eventually they all managed to pile on top of the beast hard enough to overbalance him by their combined weight.  Groaning as the blood poured off his back, the galumphing herbivore stumbled falling to his side wheezing in foetid wrath, until Shadetooth leapt off immediately plunge her jaws straight into the gasping throat muscle and rip out his larynx in a bloody spew.

        "HGHH-GHRRRRRHHHKH!"

        "Shhhhh...sleep now.  You will feed us now."

His eyes rolled up in deathly spasms as her children joined in to kill him quicker, rending his throat asunder as hot red splashed onto their faces amidst nibbling bites and lapping tongues that drank his crimson fluid.  He died within seconds amidst a raw bleeding pain as his eyes became a glassy haze and they started to feast amidst great approval from their mother.

        "Well done children I am SO proud of all of you!  We shall make fine clever hunters of you yet is that not right dear mate?!  ...Fishclaw?  Fishclaw where are you?!"

        "He's over there!" cried out Deepsnout with his blackened nose pointing towards his distant shape.  "FATHER, FATHER WE KILLED IT C-COME EAT WITH US!"

He said nothing.  Not even turn his head.  They all stood up as they smelt his scent drifting on the breeze as something they had never smelt from him before.

        "F-...f-father?"

They rushed over towards him as he stood with his back to them.  The smell of fear grew around his body, his breaths become ragged and his tail as stiff as the now-dying beast behind them.

        "Fishclaw?" asked Shadetooth.  "Fishclaw are you...a-are you alright?"

        "H-help...help me."

        "What?"

        "H-h-help...me."

He turned towards his family.  They saw the horror on his face but he could not even see theirs.

        "M-my...m-m-my eyes...wh-what happened to my eyes?"

They could not answer him.  They could not even comprehend how his eyes had become black as night, scarred deep within clouds of eternal darkness that swirled past his vision and robbed him of all light from his world.