[Gift] Am I tripping?

                Among the denizens of Alpha labs, before the gates were burst open to the isles, the Acros had a peculiar life. Often times teetering right on the edge of life and death, where the strong could thrive and the weak were quickly weeded out. Only the strongest survived. Those that had hardened themselves in body, mind, or soul. Some had come to forgo one ideal over another, while other tried to hone all three.

                Prior to his mother passing, Hunter had experienced a little bit of everything good the Labs had to offer. He had been well taken care of for the first month of his life and could’ve been considered a very happy, and fat, Acro hatchling. When he had followed his mother to go and see some of the other hatchlings, he had paid them no mind when they seemed unsure of him. His pale hide, marked with faded blue stripes that looked almost like veins at the surface of his skin, made him look sickly. Even adults had commented on that fact to his mother.

                He paid them no mind, though. His mother did well in instilling his belief that he was perfectly fine the way he was. There was nothing wrong with him. And to him, at that time, he didn’t care or need anyone else but his mother. She was his best friend, and the only person that cared for him without a second thought.

                Hunting was something he knew to be dangerous, but he never fully grasped the concept of just how dangerous. His mother would, on occasion, come back to the little nook of human scraps that they used as their ‘home’ with cuts and scraps from her outings. But she would always come home with food the same day she left.

                The morning he had lost her started off just like any other. She had woken him up, told him that she was going to go and get them something to eat and that she would be back. She told him to stay safe, stay at the nest, and stay silent. All things he did without objection. He’d heard about the stories of starved adults chasing after hatchlings for an easy meal. He knew of the other species that occasionally ventured further than they should and would pick fights with Acros. Hunter trusted his mother with his life, the idea of disobeying never crossed his mind even as her tailtip vanished out of sight behind a wall as she wandered off to go and hunt the halls of Alpha Lab.

                The rest of the day was spent there at the nest, happily waiting. He wandered around the nest, exploring all the little nooks and crannies that he could find between the metal scraps. On previous days he had found bugs, and they proved a good way to pass the time while his mother was gone. But that day, there was nothing. No roaches to chase after, no spiders to snap at. So, he opted to nap.

                There, in the labs where the sun never rose or set, time was not a concept to something as young as he was. He didn’t know how long exactly he would have to wait for his mother, but he could feel how long was too long.  When he woke up, his mother was still not there. Hunter flicked his tail, hearing the distant calls of his own species as well as the skittering footsteps of a few other hatchlings and juveniles before seeing them run by the room he and his mother had claimed as theirs. They weren’t running in fear, but seemed to be playing.

                He frowned.

                With a huff, he stood up, wandering over to peek his head out of the broken door of the room he was in and looked down the long hallway to watch as the pack ran out of sight down another corridor. He wanted to go and chase after them and have some fun, but his mother hadn’t returned. So confined to his room he stayed.

                Aside from the pile of scrap metal and blankets that had been piled to one corner of the room, the rest of it was rather bare. The walls were clear of debris and were only marred by the cracks that had formed in the walls. A water pipe had cracked at some point years ago, providing a steady trickle of water that puddled up in a corner closer to the door. It allowed Hunter and his mother to drink whenever they needed, or a small bath whenever Hunter needed it.

                For a time he stayed by the puddle of water, at first sipping it before running around and through it to entertain himself. Though it wasn’t long before either boredom got to him, or he wore himself back out and he returned to his nest to go back to sleep.

                The hatchling was unaware of how long had passed since his mother had left. He had been on his own for two days before he decided to break his oath and leave the room. His stomach was killing him, growling fiercely as he mustered up his strength to start to walk the halls. The few other Acros that he knew, he stopped and asked if they had seen his mother and they all said no. One or two had offered him food, saying he looked starved but he declined and continued on his way. He searched all the normal places, the places he knew, the places his mother had showed him, but found she was at none of them.

                Fear knotted in his stomach but he continued on.

                He walked until he couldn’t anymore, having long since left behind the territory he knew. He had wandered up some stairs, into a whole different zone where he had started to hear calls of creatures he didn’t know and smells he had never smelled before but were still strangely familiar. It reminded him of the food his mother would bring to the nest.

                The rooms he had found were filled with plants, such greenery he’d never seen before. But they were large enough to hide him so he could rest, or so he figured. He walked between the rows of plants before stopping when he saw a few that were large, bigger than he was and covered in leaves. The bushes he had found having some sort of berry growing on them, but he paid them no mind. They didn’t smell like food. The didn’t bleed like food. So, in his mind, they were not food and thus were a safe place to rest.

                It took a little bit of doing before the small Acro wormed his way through the internal branches of the bush, finally plopping down near the base of the plant and put his head on the ground. His stomach turned and twisted. His muscles were weak. Fear and despair had filled his heart long ago, and worry had started to cloud his mind.

                As he started to drift to sleep, he had already come to terms with the idea that he would probably never see his mother again.

                If he had managed to actually sleep, Hunter had no idea. Something had happened, his eyes had popped open and he found his heart racing. Something was wrong.

                Silence filled the room for a few moments, the little Acro hearing nothing but his own heartbeat in his ears before hearing footsteps. Small and quick, and nothing like what he knew his own species to sound like. He knew what claws tapping on the floor sounded like, the heavy breathing and rumbles of older Acros. This was something far smaller than anything that he knew, and he heard it getting closer to the bush he had been sleeping in.

                The leaves in front of his face moved, and as they moved he could spot something green and…glowing? The scent that reached his nose sent another pang of hunger through him. It was familiar in the same way he had thought he previous day, food related but it was attached to something living. He stayed as still as he could, trying to see how big the creature was outside of the bush.

                The leaves stopped moving again, but the mouth that held the branch hadn’t let go. And as Hunter attempted to make out what was on the other side of the leafy barrier, he locked eyes with the creature that had been trying to just get a quick meal. It was enough for Hunter to also realize, the creature was no bigger than he was.

                ‘Attack’

                Some part of him screamed for it. Instinct demanded he charge forward. He was hungry and something  told him that he was currently staring down his own food. The pale colored Acrocanthosaur didn’t need any further encouragement as he slowly moved his feet under him and then launched forward out of the bush, mouth agape.

                Embargo had moved to the side as soon as he saw the hatchling Acro starting to ready himself to pounce. For a brief moment he had wondered if the creature had crawled up from the depths of the lab to die there in the bushes. His hide was too pale, and there were tiny spines all over the back and tail of the sharp-tooth. He looked wrong, sickly. But apparently not too close to death as he had lunged out at him.

                As soon as Hunter missed his first lunge, he turned quickly to look back at Embargo. Spines covered the upper back of the Pachy, not unlike his own but some of them actually seemed to be glowing slightly. He had no time to fully take in the beauty of the Pachy before him, the speckles of green that dotted his hide and glowed faintly as well in the dim light of the hydroponic room they were in. Instead, he rushed forward again, mouth open, and tried to latch onto Embaro’s tail.

                Yet again, Embargo proved to be too quick as he whipped around to face Hunter and pull his tail away from the hungry acro’s mouth. Of all the hatchlings he’d seen and either run from or tried to fight, Hunter was one of the slower ones. He attributed it to how skinny the hatchling was. Though, even if the Acro was young and starved, it was still a threat. One that couldn’t be permitted to live and hunt more of his own kin and friends.

                Embargo bugled a loud warning as he rushed forward, lowering his head and rammed directly into the side of Hunter. The Acro being sent to the ground immediately with a yelp before trying to get up. As he got back up to his feet, Embargo had turned again and flared the quills up along his back as he went to toss his weight into the Acro. Hunter had moved back as quickly as he could, stumbling over himself to try and avoid being impaled on any of the quills though contact was still made. Embargo’s upper tail smashed into his side, embedding a few quills before Hunter could turn and start to run.

                His legs screamed in pain from weakness, but there was little more he could do but run. The Pachy was too quick for him, and he didn’t want to risk trying to take any other bite and end up with a mouth full of quills. But Embargo didn’t give up, didn’t just let him run off like he had expected. Instead, the Pachy ran after him, crashing into whatever debris was in his way as he ran down the hatchling Acro.

                “Over here!”

                Hunter looked over quickly, hearing a female voice from somewhere to his side. Instead of seeing anyone there, however, he spotted the stairs that led back down to where he and his species resided. Where there would surely be safety from the enraged Pachy that was running after him. As he skidded to a halt, Embargo crashed into him again, sending Hunter rolling down the hallway as Embargo stood over him.

                No words were exchanged between the two as Embargo simply went to slam his hardened head down at Hunter’s face. Hunter narrowly avoided the attack as he got back to his feet and then scrambled away, running through the doorway to the stairs. A pain shot up his tail as he was pulled to a stop, and when he looked back to see what had happened he found Embargo had latched onto the side of his tail where there were no quills, his beak breaking skin as he started to shake his head. Hunter roared back at him, tiny and pitiful, before being pulled to the ground from the force of Embargo’s assault. He rolled over that time, kicking out at Embargo to force him to back up and get away. Only then did the Pachy let go, but as Hunter got to his feet again, Embargo was there.

                His head connected with Hunter’s hip, knocking him backward down the stairs and sending him tumbling down. When he game to a stop at the bottom of the stairs pain had already engulfed him. His vision was full of stars and was gradually growing darker. Though he could make out the heavy footsteps of something running towards him. Two something’s.

                One pale, a white mark on her nose while the other was brown. He knew the size and shape as being adult Acros, but he had no idea if they were friendly. The stories of starved adults preying on hatchlings came to mind but he had no strength to get up and run. His vision only darkened as he heard them roaring and could barely make out the skittering of something far above them on the stairway as Embargo ran off, clearing the area.              

                “Don’t bring your kids up here next time!” Embargo yelled, the last thing Hunter heard before passing out.

                When he started to come around again, everything hurt. His vision was blurry as he blinked, the smell of blood hitting his nostrils first. It smelled wonderful. And for a moment he wondered if he had just been dreaming had it not been for the dull pain that throbbed through his entire body.

                “Mom?” He asked weakly, blinking again slowly to try and clear his vision. Had it been her that had been calling to him from the stairwell? That female voice hadn’t sounded like his mother, but…

                “No, little one. Can you get up?” Rime asked, her voice soft and quiet. Comforting. It was a voice he did not know. He quickly blinked, his vision adjusting as he looked up at Rime and Gloam, the two adults laying around him protectively. Rime was looking down at him, her massive pale face contorted in a look of worry as she watched him sit up. Gloam, on the other hand, was focused on keeping an eye out on their surroundings. As he sat up, Hunters attention quickly fell onto the scrap of meat before him, the smell of iron strong.

                “Where am I? Who are you? Can I please eat this?” He asked, looking back up at Rime quickly.

                “We’re not far from the stairs that go up. It’s safe here though, for now. You had a bit of a run in with one of the upper level Pachys. Good thing it wasn’t much bigger than you. I’m Rime, and my mate here is Gloam. And please, you need it. Are you alone?” Rime replied and carefully nudged the scrap of meat towards the hatchling.

                “Thank you. I’m alone, yes.” He replied before quickly setting in on the meat. When Hunter replied that he was alone, Gloam turned her head slightly and shot a look back at Rime. The other Acro frowned slightly, a wordless reply of sorrow. It was a reality too many hatchlings suffered there in the labs. At the same time, too many parents suffered the loss of their hatchlings.

                The three remained quiet as Hunter ate, greedily swallowing the rest of the meat and laid his head back down for a minute. While it wasn’t safe to hang around in unknown territory, it was a better known territory than the level he’d just been chased from. And the two females weren’t about to snack on him, giving him a sense of safety that made it hard to stay awake through.

                He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d felt any form of safety. It could’ve been a day or two, or it could’ve been more. Maybe less. He was unsure, but safety was all he had wanted, and now that he had it he couldn’t stay awake. He drifted back to sleep, belly now full and body hurting.

                The smell of blood  was the only thing that woke him back up some time later. His body not hurting as bad as he opened his eyes and looked around, finding that he was in a new area again. Rime and Gloam sitting a short distance away with another shred of meat placed next to him. He could hear the two talking quietly to each other, unable to make out what exactly they were saying but could hear the deeper tones in their voices and the rumbles they gave to each other. Gloam glanced back at him, her expression softening slightly when she saw he was awake in the makeshift nest of blankets they had found. Rime looked back quickly as well when she saw Gloam’s expression change and smiled as well when she saw Hunter awake again.

                “You had us both quite concerned. You’ve been out cold for a day.” Rime said, getting up and turned to make her way back over to the hatchling and sat before him.

                “I need to leave, and get back to my own nest.” Hunter said quickly, getting back to his feet as well. He stifled the groan of pain he felt as he stretched his legs out after everything that had happened before bending down to rip into the food. The scrap of meat that the two had offered was a good small meal. Enough that, with the meal from the other day, he would be fine for a little while longer.

                “You’re on your own, though. Do you have other family?” Gloam asked, watching Hunter carefully as he swallowed the bit of meat they had offered him.

                “I’ll be fine. I need to get home.” He repeated, making his way to the door. Something told him that the whispered conversation between the pair had been about him. They were not his parents. They needed to worry about themselves, not concern themselves with a random hatchling they had found.

                As he made his way to the door, Gloam reached out and stopped him. He looked up at her, and she down at him. Neither said anything for a moment before Gloam blinked slowly and rumbled. A sound of understanding. No words needed to be said. She would not argue his want to return home, wherever that was, and he would not ask about their conversation.

                “We wander, little one. But this room is rather safe. If you need food, find us. But only until you’re able to hunt on your own.” Gloam said, letting go of his tail. Hunter listened and gave a quick nod, glancing back over at Rime.

                “Thank you both for your help. I won’t forget this. I have to go home, though.” He said and gave a quick little bow of his head before turning and started to run off again. Once he was sure he was clear of the two adults, he slowed down to a walk and continued on. He knew where he was, roughly, and as soon as he found the common rooms he was able to navigate back to his and his mother’s nest.

                As he turned the corner to enter the room, he had half expected to see his mother there and angry. He had hoped to hear her voice, and would happily have taken any punishment from her for disobeying and leaving the nest. But she was not there. Instead there was another creature staring at him as she stood in the scraps of cloth and metal. She was no Acro, nor was she a Pachy, Albertosaur, or Dacen. Huter was not sure what exactly he was looking at. Maybe an Acro that had been stretched out and horrifically mutated and shrunk down? With a beak?

                “Don’t eat me.” Ghast gasped quickly, dropping the bag she had been carrying and quickly held up her hands.

                “Who are you?” Hunter asked and tilted his head. She didn’t smell like food, nor did she look like anything he had eaten.

                “Ghast! My name is Ghast. I saw you running the other day, and was the one that yelled for you to come to the stairs.” She said and smiled.

                Hunter just looked her over before turning around to see if anyone else was seeing what he was seeing before looking back at her.

                “I’ve been around here for a little bit. It was safe. I use the vents to travel around. You’re small for your species. When did you hatch?” She asked, tilting her head as she watched him slowly start to creep closer.

                “I don’t know? A while ago.” He replied and carefully made his way into his own nest as she stood in it and just laid down. The two stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what exactly to make of each other before Ghast just frowned.

                “You’re super young. Where’s your mom?” Ghast asked.

                “She went out to get food and never came back. Do you want to stay here?” Hunter replied, not feeling threatened by her but wasn’t sure what she was doing snooping around his nest.

                “I mean…I came to check on you. I followed your scent here. Maybe we could help each other out? I don’t have any family or friends here. And…well. It sounds like you don’t either. Would you be alright if we just sort of looked out for each other?” Ghast asked. Compared to her time in Atlantis, the conversation was awkward. The acro was young, to be sure. He didn’t speak like any adolescent or juvenile she had run into in Atlantis. There was no tact, or ploy. He didn’t hold himself like he we was trying to manipulate her. But his sheer size threw her off. For a hatchling, he as massive. Not unlike Iguanodons. But he didn’t seem to be as manipulative as they were, even as children.

                “That would be okay with me. But maybe you should keep hiding? I don’t know your scent. I’ve never seen anything like you before.” Hunter replied and tilted his head, looking over as she pointed up to a vent that ran across the ceiling, boxes and trash stacked up to reach the hole in the shaft.

                “I’ve got my nest up there already. I didn’t figure you’d want to share your nest.” She replied and smiled. He just gave a slight nod, the look of confusion on his face never quite leaving as he laid his head back down. She was surprised at just how well he had held up from his fall down the stairs. Had it not been for the two adult Acros that had found him, she feared he might not’ve made it. But with them taking care of him, it had given her time to track down the place he called home.

                “I’m Hunter.” He said after a moment, eyes closing as he started to relax into his nest again.

                “Well. It’s good to meet you, Hunter. I’ll be up there if you need anything. But for now, you just get the rest you need.” Ghast replied and smiled, carefully stepping out of the bundle of blankets and watched as he passed back out.

                Hunter, on the other hand, had opted for sleep just to set his head straight. His adventure had started by trying to find his mother. And now he was talking to a weird stretched out halfbreed between maybe a dacen and an Acro. Before he fell back asleep, he wondered just how hard he had hit his head when he’d fallen down the stairs.