Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 2

The Velociraptor woke with the hint of sunlight coming through his bedroom window. He put on his brown shirt, belted on his dagger, and grabbed his ax before he headed outside to the barrow. He picked up a handle with one hand and started to walk his way back to the downed tree. He hoped today would be the last day for gathering the wood from that particular tree, as his memory told him there wasn't much left, especially after the week's worth of rot.

As he neared the tree, he took note of singing birds he could hear. Blue jays and Cardinals he thought some of them sounded like. He paused, trying to recall the last time he had seen or heard either bird in the forest. He came to the conclusion that he either couldn't remember or never had. He sniffed the air, trying to catch a scent he hoped he would not find. Unfortunately, he did find it. The stench of bandits.
 He felt a sharp thud to his back. When he reached his hand back to the spot, he found an arrow sticking out of it. He whipped around, trying to find the bandit who had shot him. He looked up just in time to see him on a branch, another arrow notched in his bow. He reacted quickly, dodging behind a nearby tree as the loosened arrow struck the ground behind where he had been standing. He looked up the tree that he hid behind, and started to climb it by digging his claws into it's bark. He had an idea to deal with that bandit, but he needed to find the right branch.

When he had thought he found it, he climbed onto it and examined the distance and angle from his branch to the one the bandit was still perched on. Perfect, he thought. He leaped at the bandit, claws outstretched. The force of the impact knocked the bandit off the branch, and they both began to fall to the ground. The Velociraptor made sure to keep the bandit between him and the ground, and when they had landed, him on top of the bandit, he felt the satisfying crunch that told him his attempted killer was either dead or had both broken ribs and a broken spine.

He started to scan the area as soon as he had his bearings after the cushioned impact. Bandits seldom attacked alone, and the few who did would've picked a higher branch than the one his would be assassin had, or would have at least had better aim with a bow. He heard the crunch of the leaves coming from his left and before he had even caught sight of the black bandit cloak, he had his dagger drawn and aimed for a slice across the humans neck. So, there is an squad of bandits after me today, he thought to himself. He picked up the bow from the corpse of the bandit from the branch, and slung the quiver over his right shoulder. He started scanning haste-fully at his surroundings, trying to find any other bandits. He drew and arrow and shot at a dark spot on another branch, closer by his downed tree. A shadow, by the way the arrow just flew through it with no effect.

He put his back against the tree he was standing by, feeling the rapid beat his heart was making in his chest. How many are out there, he was thinking to himself, or have I killed them all? His breathing had become faster as well, his eyes continued to scan the forest that he could see. He couldn't tell what was shadow and what could be the cloak of a bandit. His heart seemed to beat faster, he worried another archer could have a bow aimed at his head right then and there, but he could not see any more bandits. He looked down and caught a glimpse of a dark figure moving in a reflection off of a dagger of one of the bandits. He examined what was being reflected quickly, and found the shadowy figure was coming at him from his right. His hand sped to the dagger, and as soon as the cloaked figured turned around the tree, his dagger was thrust into it's chest, a scream of pain following.

He hid back behind the tree. That scream would have alerted the rest of the nearby bandits. He looked up at the sky he could see between the leaves, and noticed an oddity. The colors were becoming brighter to his eyes, the yellows slowly started to look as if they gave their own light. The entire pallet of colors to his eyes started to make the treetops look as though they were on fire, even though he knew they were not. His heart beat sounded suddenly slower, his breathing seemed less erratic, all within a second. The wound on his back throbbed more, the pain becoming stronger than what he knew a simple arrow wound should feel. He recognized this sensation, even though it had been many years since he had last felt it. It was the heightening of the senses of a predator.

He looked back around, noticing the shadows he had once seen had all but disappeared. He also noticed the other bandits. He yanked the arrow out of his wound, notched it, and let it loose at one bandit, striking the cloaked figure in the heart. He quickly drew another arrow and shot at another bandit, but it bounced off a tree. He shot again, this time he hit his target. He began to volley arrows at various targets he could see with his heightened sight, not stopping until all he could see were down. He then turned around the tree, searching for others. He only found one, sitting on top of his downed tree casually. He reached for another arrow only to find the quiver was empty. He tossed down the bow and un-shouldered the quiver before he walked toward the cloaked figure with his dagger drawn.

“Well, well, if it ain't the beast of the forest,” the cloaked figure said, “Me name's Bismarq, and I'm 'ere to be yer killer today.” Bismarq charged at the Velociraptor, his dagger held underhanded. He went for a stab, but was parried by the Velociraptor's dagger. The Velociraptor's dagger was then forced into the center of Bismarq's chest. Bismarq stood there, dumbstruck at the what he seen protruding from his chest.

“They call me Warrior Rapter,” the velociraptor whispered into Bismarq's ear, “and I don't die easy.” With that, the Velociraptor twisted the dagger still inside Bismarq's chest before ripping it out, blood-stained. Warrior Rapter stood there, watching Bismarq's corpse crumble to the ground. He put his dagger back on to its belt, and decided to take his stuff back home. I'll change the shirt, he thought to himself, then head into town to get the other mended. Probably should take some wood, too, means I was planning on going into town tomorrow for supplies.