Terrorbird Extraordinaire

Hi! Please feel free to Like or Reblog this post if you’d like to interact with an independent roleplay blog for a couple of OCs for Jurassic Park/World! I am totally open to Crossovers and AUs, OCs and Multimuses, and I’m Non-Selective to boot!

@darrius-bowman

Random Starters || Always Accepting

It hadn't been long since the park had complete shut down. Since the security detail had disappeared and the lights shut off, the ambient speakers had gone quiet and the security doors had stopped working. At least, it hadn't felt like very long.

As soon as the food stopped being dropped into the paddock, Ambrose began to get worried. It was morbidly interesting to be privy to a Utahraptor that was in a survival panic. Fariah stayed out of his way as the bird exercised his penchant for escaping, tearing with little ceremony through bars and grates and the heavy steel doors that no longer 'boop'd for his entertainment. He'd come to check on her after a path to the world outside had been carved, and she very carefully made sure he wasn't injured. Outside a slight limp that disappeared a couple of days later and a couple of bumps and scrapes, he seemed fine.

The first while was rocky, getting used to what felt like being hopelessly alone. Her supplies in the little bunker room had dwindled almost too fast, it felt like, and that was what forced Fariah to finally leave the security of the paddock into the rest of the park.

Much to mild surprise, Ambrose followed her when she left. At a fair distance for a while, but even if he was a big carnivore she knew had the capability to devour her in two bites, she admitted quietly to herself that she was happy he chose to be around. Other dinosaurs tended to shy from a raptor of his size, leaving her occasional forays into the main park blessedly uneventful. If something did happen, it happened away from her.

Out of sight, out of mind...

Over time, Ambrose had started getting closer and closer to her. She could reach out at times, feel the brush of his feathers against her fingertips. He kept himself well-groomed, feathers shiny and straight at all times. Was that the parrot bridge, or was that simply just natural instinct?

She was wondering such things, as she often did, when his head perked up suddenly, like he heard something. Alert, his head tilting one way to the other, his body following a sinuous line as it turned to face the same way his ears pointed him toward. With his arms pulled up to his sides, she noted he looked remarkably more birdlike than usual.

Before she could process his stance, he was off like a shot. Silent like he was hunting and stalking, instead of his trills and chirps and vocals. She contemplated moving on and continuing her own scavenging, and she even turned to take a few steps in the opposite direction from him. But there was a feeling roiling in her gut. She wasn't sure if it was fear for what might be waiting for her, or fear for what Ambrose was running toward. It caused her a moment to pause and to think on what her next steps should be. She wasn't sure when she turned to follow the raptor's path.

Ambrose, on the other hand, was already on his way toward the noise that had alerted him. An animal in distress, the smell of injury on the air. An easy meal. He did not rationalize that it was human, like his strange raptor mother. Through fronds and leaves and shadows, he saw it limping. The hunter's instinct took over, and he became a flash of black and brilliant red through foliage as he turned to find the best point to intercept.

It didn't take him long to overtake his target, several good strong strides all he needed to exert before he was far enough ahead. Very little energy expended, distance enough for the ambush to work. His mother would be proud of him, he was such a good hunter. He would be praised, he would be pet, he would be told he was the best prettiest boy when she was given her share.

A Utahraptor in full display was a sight to behold to anything capable enough to think about it. Ambrose burst from the forest surroundings, stopping directly in the littler human's path, the feathers behind his head and down his spine standing straight up, his lip fluttering in a toothy 'smile'.

"NO! STOP!" was bellowed toward his target, crisp perfect syllables.

He knew that talking stunned prey long enough to take a bite out of it, as most of his usual prey were familiar to humans talking. He was counting on it working here, a quiver of tensing muscles running along his body to ready for it.

if we’re mutuals, feel free to hit me up on Discord at Guideau#6312 as im fairly more talkative on there! just let me know who you are, but im pretty lax otherwise. 

Some universal force indeed, like all of the modern species DNA they were reportedly using, to complete sequences. “Do you think it was worth the battle?” Muldoon asked, unafraid to ask the hard questions.

“With your new addition, I hope that’s it. They’re far too intelligent to keep sizeable populations of, yet the labs keep cloning more.” He doubted the lab had any idea of the danger they were bringing to the staff and the islands. Utahraptor wasn’t a species he wasn’t familiar with, though had heard the name in passing once or twice.

“That makes two of us with little knowledge of what goes on in the labs then, though I never had the pleasure of being part of them.” He gave her a grim smile, and didn’t pry further into her business with Wu. Lab staff seemed disconnected from the reality of the island and the animals; their answers to his questions, as well as demands, were never satisfactory. He supposed they were evasive and protecting their work, as well as following John’s limitless vision. “We don’t need another raptor,” Muldoon reminded her firmly, shortly after she mentioned Dromaeosaurus.

He peered back to the enclosure, as she mentioned her relation to the animal, then back to her. “Early on, when the raptors on Nublar were young, I noticed familial or pack acknowledgements from some of them.” He gave her a thoughtful look. “There’s not much of an opportunity to test it now, though, since they’ve gone into the paddock.”

He chuckled at her mention of the meat. “Not a fan of aged steak?”

“This is more than I originally anticipated,” he steadily nodded, taking no offense at her words regarding his job. “The work keeps me on my feet, and I can appreciate that.”

Leaning over Fariah, he silently placed the notebook on her table and peered at her computer’s screen. “Let’s do that, when you’re ready,” he mused, watching the screen still, and also noted the movement. “Good observations, by the way,” Muldoon nodded to the notebook he’d only paged through, trusting she’d continue them.

“I’m used to these animals being hostile to everyone. Difference is this time, they’re not hostile to someone else.” He nodded toward the laptop, and stood back up and gave her some space to gather her things.

The question took her by mild surprise and Fariah paused in packing things, still holding the cup in one hand to think on it. “...It was indeed worth it. Not only is he our only viable specimen of the genome, it’s not his fault he was born outside the realm of ‘what is right’. Who are we to tell something that dictates even our own nature what is right or wrong.”

She resumed her packing, setting the cup down, as she continued, “You needn’t worry about more Utahraptors, not in this moment. Isolating his genetic structure was hard enough, there’s probably more bird in him than dinosaur at this point. There was simply not enough to even think about making a broodmate, and even if they were going to try to take a sample from him, they run the risk of a second male. By the time the lab decides to try again, I’ll have compiled substantial research on how better to handle Utahraptors than they did when they made their first clutch of the Velociraptors. Besides! I think he does better on his own than with others.” 

She did make a noise at Muldoon’s insistence against raptors. “Well then. That makes two of us in similar mindset, doesn’t it. But you try telling them that. More teeth means more money, regardless of any actual risks due to lack of observational research, more money means more research into the genetics side of things.” She shrugged a moment. “I may have deviated from them enough, now that I’m relegated to being out in the field. But it doesn’t mean I don’t understand the mindset still. I worked too hard to be hired on by Ingen for a specific task, and though it’s shifted, it doesn’t mean the original discipline goes away.”

The humor was not lost on her and she returned a wry smile. “Oh don’t worry. I ... ‘ate’ it anyway. When he wasn’t looking. But it is a sweet gesture, if I’m being honest, and as long as he knows you, he seems to socialize well. So your observations of familial dynamics might not be too far off.”

When the notebook was returned to her, she slipped it in with the others in her bag, pausing a moment to let him view the network of camera feeds on the screen. Indeed, Ambrose had moved, a wisp of his tail feathers in the top left screen as he left his lair and had stalked into the main enclosure. Truly a beast, he took up a fair amount of the camera frame, elegantly spiky with flashes of the red against black. He yawned, opening his jaws nice and wide, before going through a series of movements that looked like stretches. Then, he began the patrol, shifting from one camera frame to the next, doing exactly as predicted and checking on the space of his enclosure, his defined territory. There was no sound, but he did pause momentarily at one point to apparently watch the security guard that moved into frame on a catwalk above him. It was here Fariah pulled up an open document [likely the digital transcriptions of the notebooks’ contents], hit save, and then shut the laptop’s lid and slipped it into the bag as well.

“I don’t find him to be as aggressive as some of the other female theropods we keep, honestly. Most of it is defensive, he very rarely goes on the offensive.” she assured Muldoon, though she was more than sure it would do little to actually assure him of anything.

With everything packed away and the messenger bag that held her life’s work settled across her shoulders, she stood up and grabbed her cup, taking a long final drink of the contents. “Well then! Shall we go.”

Less of a question and more of a verbal footnote to events to come, she made her way around him and out the door of the lobby toward the enclosure, a big concrete monolith from the outside that looked like it was used to house a dragon rather than an oversized bird. It would be a short walk, honestly, as she very rarely went too far from the place, even when getting some air.

“I should warn you, though. His bridge is with a parrot. He’s not only pretty, he is capable of speech. His promises are lies, all he’s doing is copying what he hears.”

She was sure that would go over well with the tense warden. But she would rather he knew long before meeting him than being surprised by it when the raptor’s finger talons were wrapping around him.

        the creature’s brow almost furrowed. indi kept repeating the phrase in her mind, mentally twisting and turning it around to find any sort of ulterior motive. a human apologised to her? for noise? only that? 

indi’s throat vibrated rhythmically in what could be construed as a laugh. no one had ever apologised to her, not even mother. either the humans were truly growing clever enough to lull her into trust, or a truth-sayer had slipped through the cracks. 

but alas, indi was intelligent enough to know how this worked. she would answer questions; the voice behind the metal box would ooh and aah at her intelligence; and then a month later, they would leave, either of their own accord or by force. 

she didn’t know much of life outside those concrete walls but she did know that humans feared her and desired power and control above all. if anyone, even a fellow human, were to threaten the white-coated ones and the ones with guns… well. they’d disappear. 

and she would be alone. again. 

still, why not humour the soft voice? 

she ceased her carving, but still grasped the bone possessively to her chest. 

then, slowly, she made a sign. one of the few she still remembered from mother. her free hand curled into a fist, save for the thumb and shortest digit, and swept out from her head. 

why? 

It took Fariah a moment to even notice the hand sign was an actual attempt at an answer. She had been focusing more or less on whatever the hybrid had been toying with, how she reacted with it. The grasping, mostly, the body language in response.

She was used to reading body language. It was predominantly how Ambrose communicated, after all. His vocals were mostly mimicry, repeats of things he’d heard before, maybe some playful toying with pitches and tones and volumes. But he could sound friendly with a ‘Hello’ and be what she liked to call ‘smiling’, where all of his teeth were bared. A sign of threat, a metaphoric face-eating grin that could very easily turn literal if his target moved within range of those terrible finger talons.

“Why.”

Fariah started a moment as the guard near her spoke up. She looked up at him after settling again, having honestly forgotten he’d been there up until now. Not that she would admit it, even if the start was obvious. She wasn’t used to ACU security agents speaking without being addressed first.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked him, looking up.

“It ... uh ... She is asking ‘why’.” He added as an afterthought when she gave him a questioning look, “My niece back home is deaf.” He mimicked the same sign he’d seen on the video feed. “She’s asking why.”

“Oh.” It took a moment before it actually hit her. “Oh! It’s ASL! She can communicate!” As he nodded, she picked up the mic and paused with a finger above the talk button, the excitement bubbling squashed for half a second. “...I don’t know ASL.”

“I’ll translate what I can.” he replied with a shrug. Nonchalant.

She was vibrating again when she issued him her thanks. The button was pressed, the speakers crackled again to life after a short silence.

@utahraptorian​​

       life had settled into a dull, frustrating routine ever since her sibling’s death. when only indi showed herself for the cameras for weeks and weeks, she knew they assumed the worst. that is why humans stopped coming at all. there were no veterinary visits. no paddock inspections or cleaning. no more kind-eyed mother. 

just indi. and trees. and the decaying bones of past meals. 

and the more she paced the constricting walls of her home cage, the more angry she grew, and the more lonely. she counted the rising and setting of the sun and moon; she observed every leaf on every tree; she even attempted to carve snippets of human writing on spare bones. she successfully spelled DANGER and CAUTION, but had no idea what the words meant. 

there was no intellectual stimulation and no company– there was only herself, and isa’s voice, which was at best distant and unintelligible, and at worse screaming for help she could not give. 

all was silent and stillness until one morning. when indi was attempting another carving, this one of herself, a voice spoke through the paddock’s speakers. 

it reminded her of her mother’s, and she hated the way her heart leapt in her chest. 

she imperiously turned her head towards the nearest camera, eyes narrowing. she would graciously listen, for now. 

The past month had been nothing short of a roller coaster. Hills and loops and hoops of paperwork and legal issues. Most of the latter was still going on.

Fariah was honestly surprised at herself. She had never thought she would have to go toe-to-toe with Wu ever again. Especially over yet another raptor. Though if she was getting technical with it, something only part of a raptor bloodline. What little amount of information was actually surrendered at current did say the recent spiky hybrid had only a sliver of raptor genetics in it.

Among other things that were not only concerning, but made her ask to remove the attraction from public display. Of course that had made both fans and some investors angry, but veiling it with telling them the enclosure had to undergo maintenance to ensure visitor safety seemed to silence the disapproval. At least for now. Once she was absolutely certain and had all of the documentation necessary in her hands, only then would she have the evidence to remind not only Wu, but Hoskins as well, the price one paid for tampering so extremely with nature.

Ambrose could be argued as sapient, but he was still in most ways an animal. His self-awareness could be likened to his parrot-y nature instead of anything remotely human. This behemoth, she could argue was an actual child. Draw a line. Call it like it was. 

If she could have the evidence of such genetic tampering, she could present it as a full concern. It was just taking time, as most legal battles did; she remembered it took nearly four weeks to acquire Ambrose in full and that had required an intervention from Simon Masrani himself. When she had the papers in her hands, if her assessment of such thoughts was indeed correct, that meant another thing.

She could reason with the creature. She didn’t need to wait for any more papers to at least try. The last legal thresholds had yet to be crossed, but there were no terms stating she couldn’t socialize with the hybrid.

The control center was the safest bet for now, with the monitors from the cameras showing almost every inch of the enclosure’s interior. The hybrid was probably mistrustful of humans and if she felt cornered, would undoubtedly lash out, so entering almost immediately into her territory was a bad idea. 

Staring at the sparsely-landscaped enclosure she had deemed was much too small for a creature of the Indominus’ size, she didn’t see her. Either the creature was hiding, or she was camouflaged. Either-or seemed likely, with the lack of attention concerning everything but necessities lately. Fariah hadn’t meant to keep things waiting.

One of Ambrose’s security detail had decided to accompany her, someone she knew she could trust just enough to have an indifference at least to things like this. He handed her the mic, showed her how to use it, explained there were comm-speakers in places around the inside.

The speakers crackled to life, a bit of static and the tiniest leak of feedback.  Once she was sure she would be able to speak with little interruption, she began.

“Hello?”

Just a word, a simple greeting at first, if tentative. And she finally got to see the creature in the next few instances. It was almost hard to imagine the hybrid had been a base from anything that made it up. A true chimera. What were they doing in the labs now!

“I do apologize in advance. There may be some noise in the next few weeks or months.”