Birds of Prey - The Caller
- Taibu Fox
- Mar 21, 2022
- 9 min read
This story is based on my personal experiences with the game Jurassic World Evolution, and to the behavior of the animals shown in that game.
The writing style is also greatly inspired by Kosmonauttihai's story, Last Queens of Thieves.
The Caller
From the day he hatched, he was alone. There was only a warm light, a weird grey and black branch that moved him and his egg around, and voices of creatures that were not like him.
Even when he was merely a hatchling, he knew this was not how it was supposed to be. He knew creatures that he could not understand could potentially be a danger to him. He knew that the grey and black branch was not normal. But above all he knew he wasn't supposed to be alone.
He grew up, fast. Faster than he was supposed to. He felt his bones rattle, his flesh stretch and his muscles ache as his body tried to keep up with his growth. He was constantly feeling growth pains in his limbs. He wanted to stop. But he couldn't.
When he was taken from the nest, and woke up in a small enclosure with foliage, he felt a little better. He had more space to move around in, and the trees allowed him to hide from the voices. But he soon realized he was trapped even here. The white stone-walls kept him from leaving. One of the walls was grey and had weird patterns on it, but seemed otherwise just as hard and un-moving as the white ones. As for the trees and foliage, there was not enough of them. He knew, it was the creatures that had put it here. No matter where he hid, he could not get away from them. They would find him. He could hardly sleep.
What are they going to do to me? He thought. He put himself on a ball as he hid under the leaves of a fern. He craved for something. He wasn't sure what. It wasn't food or water, he had plenty of those. But something was missing. And he craved for it so badly.
One day the grey wall opened. He watched as his first sun-rays shone trough it and he smelled the fresh air for the first time. He dashed trough the opening. He was free. Finally free.
His joy was short-lived. Around him, once again, were white stone walls. This time the area was way bigger, but now there were no trees and leaves to hide under. Well, there was one tree, but it was not natural. It had a cold grey trunk, and it was growing straight up. The leaves on it were real, but there were not many of them and it hardly gave a shade. There was a gray platform that gave him food, just like inside, and a lake to drink from. But that was all there was. Nothing. He was alone in this huge area. He could hear more voices of the creatures from behind the walls. There were so many of them. And they were just behind the wall. They could attack at any time. And he was all alone.
He tried to get back inside, but the wall had closed behind him.
A whole day he wandered around the paddock, eating and drinking, smelling and listening. The sun that had been so beautiful before was now a curse, as there was no way for him to shield himself from it's hot rays. He would sometimes walk trough the lake just to cool himself out.
He kept himself moving. He did not want to close his eyes. Not here. When there was no-one there to watch over him. He knew it was not normal for him to be alone. He needed someone. Someone like him. To watch over him. To communicate with.
Then he thought, maybe the others like him were out there, among the creatures? Maybe they were just as afraid as he was? What if he could call them, tell them they weren't alone?
And so he did. He made his first calls. Raspy, and harsh, but loud enough to ring over the voices of the other creatures. He called few times, and waited. And waited...
He fell asleep waiting. For nothing.
Next time he woke up, the wall was opening again, and his heart stopped. The creatures? Or maybe someone had heard his call and was coming for him?
But what came from the wall was both disappointing, and confusing.
A huge creature with long neck, small head, and even longer tail lumbered slowly from the safety of the trees inside the paddock.
He smelled the creature from afar, and came into conclusion it was not the creatures who's voices he had heard upon his birth. This one was different, something he had never smelled before. And it too was confused and scared. Like him.
He tried to talk to it, called it few times, but got no answer. It could not understand him. And as the long necked one gave his own deep and low bellow, he realized he could not understand them either.
Part of him felt like he should have been attacking the big creature, but his instinct told him he stood no chance alone.
Alone. He let out calls again. No answer.
Another day went on. The wall didn't open up again. Voices from behind the wall did not quiet down. The long necked one ate from the one tree in the whole paddock. He felt something grow inside him, but he wasn't sure what it was.
Next morning he woke to the long necked one calling. They too were looking for the ones like himself. But unlike him, the long necked one got an answer. Another deep bellow could be heard from somewhere far away.
He got up. The feeling was bigger than last night. He had no word to the feeling. But we would call it fury.
Without thinking twice, he started running around the paddock. He was searching. He didn't know what. But he was searching. He called out few times. No answer.
With all his might, he threw himself against the white stone wall. He was surprised to find it crumble against him. Only a little, but enough for him. He repeated the action time after time. Little by little the stone let out. He clawed it, smacked himself against it, over and over. He didn't care if there were hundred creatures waiting for him. He wanted out.
A new noise started outside the wall, a long, high pitched call. He heard the creatures behind the wall answer the call, with their own even more high pitched. He heard running.
They were gathering to face him.
Let them come. He thought. Let them all come and fight me.
And with one last push, he made it through the stone wall.
For the first time, he saw the creature that had put him in the paddock. There were indeed hundreds of them, but they were barely taller than him, had no claws and very small teeth. And they were not running towards him, they were running away.
They fear me. He though. That is why they contained me.
He noticed another wall between him and the creatures, but this one was made of the grey branches from before. It would be easy enough to squeeze through them, he though and dashed towards them again.
He didn't even realize the scream was from his own throat. The pain was sudden and lingering. His whole body went limp in an instant. For a while he was sure he would die. But he didn't. But he also no longer wanted to touch the branches.
He returned to the paddock and tried another wall. More branches behind it. Another one. And another one. His claws were bleeding. His whole body was aching. There was no way out. The creatures had won.
He laid on the grass and didn't think about anything. He was no reason to keep fighting. After all, who would he be fighting for?
He heard the long necked one also grow anxious, and eventually try to break the walls as well. He was about to call out to them to warn them, but decided not to. It would not understand.
Suddenly among the high pitched calls there was another sound. A humming sound. Soon a black flying creature appeared above the paddock. The humming came from it's one wing that kept it airborne. He watched it turn towards the long necked one and soon, the long necked one laid on the ground, un-moving.
It killed him. He thought. The creatures outside send it to end us because we tried to escape.
Shaking, he noticed the black one winged bird turn to him. There was nowhere to run, but his legs demanded him to get up. He ran from one corner to another, but it got closer and closer, the humming in his ears getting louder.
He left a small sharp poke on his side, but he had no time to worry about bugs. He had to get away or he'd die!
But suddenly his legs stopped working and he fell over. His panic turned into tiredness. His eyelids were heavy.
I will die any way, I might as well give up.
And with that, he closed his eyes. The humming got more and more distant. And finally, he was once again alone.
He did not believe he would ever open his eyes again, but when he did, he was more confused than ever. The paddock had changed. There were trees and ferns everywhere. The voices of the creatures were much more quiet and distant. The smell of the long necked one was gone. But there was a new smell.
He got up on his shaking legs and realized he was hungry. So he began following the smell of food first. He found another grey platform that gave him food. He ate fast, found another lake and took a drink. Then he raised his nose again to smell the new smell. It was familiar, yet different. Another creature perhaps?
Before he could think of anything else he heard a call. Not the low bellowing call of the long necked one. Or the high pitched one of the creatures.
He heard his own call.
Without thinking about it longer, he let out a call himself. Silence. For a while his heart stopped.
And then someone answered.
Who are you? it asked. Where are you? it asked.
He called again. I'm here!
And soon he saw them: three creatures like him. Long claws, sharp teeth, narrow eyes... He had found the ones he had been calling for!
The biggest one took few steps forward, head high up, tail straight and legs springed for an attack if necessary. He had never interacted with his own kind before, but he knew this was the Alpha. And he needed to show loyalty to them if he wanted to live. So he kept his head low.
The alpha was big and white as the walls in the paddock. His eyes were red as blood. The alpha sniffed him few times. And then he left out growls and clicks he had never heard, but understood completely.
You smell of them. Did they hurt you? the alpha asked.
They send their black one winged bird to attack me, he clicked back, little clunky and unsure, this was the first time he spoke after all. I thought I would die...
The alpha came closer, his head bend down, tail lowered.
They did that to us too. You're safe now. The alpha purred.
He felt as the Alpha nuzzled him gently. And in instant he knew he was safe. He was home. Gently he snuggled back, purring for the first time in his life. This is what he had craved for his whole life: touch.
The two other came to him as well, smelled him and nuzzled him gently.
They call me Crimson, the alpha growled.
These are Fern and Rain, Crimson clicked, pointing towards the two others.
What should we call you? the one called Rain asked.
He had never thought about it. He never realized he could be called something! So he thought about it hard. This would be very important, he knew it...
Caller, he finally said. My name is Caller.
And thus Caller found his pack. Crimson was a very kind and strong alpha. He spoke to him all the time, teaching him new words and ways to communicate.
Fern and Rain thought him how to hunt the white four legged creatures that appeared from the hole in the ground. Soon he could jump and kill like he had always been doing it.
Sometimes the black bird would fly over them, but Crimson would stand on watch, tell him it was not coming for them. Soon he got used to the humming.
Crimson spoke a lot, but never about himself or his past. But Fern and Rain said Crimson was not their brother. Caller didn't quite understand what "brother" meant, but he came into a conclusion it meant "someone who was born in the same nest".
Fern and Rain were brothers, however, they had always been together. They too were surrounded by the creatures when they hatched, but they had never felt what being alone was like. When they had grown old enough, they were let out in a different paddock than this, the black bird put them to sleep, and they woke up in here, and Crimson took them in his pack.
He was very angry, Rain said once. But after few days he calmed down and has been calm ever since.
He was angry because he was alone, Caller said. I felt it too, before I was brought here.
But one thing he did not understand...
I called for you before, in that last paddock, but you didn't answer, he asked Crimson once.
You were too far away for us to hear you, was Crimson's answer.
We always answer to our own calling. If he had heard you, we would have answered for sure.
And Caller knew it was true. Whenever he got far away from the others, all he had to do was call and someone always answered. It made him feel safe.
Caller didn't know what the creatures outside had planned for them. No-one, not even Crimson did. But he did know that if they were to attack, he was sure to fight.
Because now he had something to fight for.
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