Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 6

Warrior Rapter could feel the darkness he was in letting up.  Slowly his body was regaining it's feeling, it's strength.  He could start to hear voices.  They sounded like they were arguing, but the words were muffled still.
"... creature... danger... killed..."  Words had come into focus.  He reasoned the words were the mayor's.  His mind went back to his last memory he could recall, and he suddenly wished he could see and move.
"... reacted... Jack... You caused... great buffoon."  The words were becoming even less faded.  Doubtless that was Marg.  He wondered how she was holding up after what had happened to Jack.
"I want him... my town, Marg.  He is a clear and... present threat to this community.  I don't care that he was reacting to my action with Jack, he will never truly be accepted by humans.  He is a monster, and monsters must be slain."
He wished those words had stayed faded.  True, he was acting in defense of Jack, but he also knew that few humans would accept him for what he was.  He tried not to let it bother him most of the time, but it was a fact he could never escape.
"And I want you out of my tavern right now.  Mr. Rapter could wake up any moment now by Leiutenant Hutch's figuring, and I don't want any more incidences, least of all in here!  So out!"
"Just remember, Marg, I want him gone by sunrise, or I'll come and finish the job.  And I won't be alone!"
He heard the tavern door shut rather loudly.  He wanted to get up, to say something, but he found he still lacked the strength to move, even though he could clearly hear now.  He heard more conversation.
"Have you any news on Jack, Lieutenant?"
"None yet, madam.  I had one of my fastest horsemen rush him to a healer I know in a town to the north, with explicit orders to keep us posted on any news."
Jack wasn't dead? Warrior Rapter thought to himself.  He felt relief, both for him and for Marg.  Maybe the mayor is right.  Maybe I am a monster.  He quickly disregarded the thought.
"Is there anything you can do for Mr. Rapter, Lieutenant?  He's been a friend of mine since I was a little girl, and he's known Jack just as long."
"I'm afraid not.  The mayor has the jurisdiction down here.  He grew up with you and Jack?"
"Oh, no.  It's a funny thing, he hasn't changed a bit in appearance since I was little that I can recall.  Jack has mentioned the same before.  He's just always been a friend to us.  He's been a friend of my families, really.  My father told me that when he was little, he helped Mr. Rapter learn how to speak with us."
"He was around when your father was little?!  He doesn't look much older than a twenty year old human!"
"I know, but that's just Mr. Rapter for you.  He keeps an eye on the children in the forest, even though he says he doesn't.  But I know it for true, because for all the bandits in the area, we haven't had one child go into that forest without coming back.  I even heard a few saying they were rescued from the bandits, even though that hadn't been gone a day.  Some of the parents said that was just childish imagination."
"But you have reason not to believe that?"
"Yes, why, I was one of those children back when I was young!"
"I think I see why you defend him now.  He protected you when you were young, and you're returning the favor now."
"Precisely, Leiutenant!"
Warrior Rapter couldn't help but feel a little comforted by those words.  Marg was a true friend of his, he would never ask he to do some of the things she does, but she does them anyway, even when most of the rest of the town is against him.  He attempted to move again, he managed to tap one of his finger claws on what he was laying on.
"I think he's awake, Marg, or starting to wake up.  He's trying to move his hand."
"Mr. Rapter, thank goodness."  She rushed to him and propped open his left eye.  "He's still a little weak, Leiutenant.  Grab me that glass I poured earlier."  She closed his eye, and he heard shuffling and the sound of a glass being placed on the table.
"Leiutenant, could you hold his mouth open please?  Careful of his teeth, heaven knows they are naturally sharp!  Mr. Rapter, this is going to be a little spicy."
Spicy was putting it mildly.  As soon as the concoction went down his throat, he felt like he could've been a dragon for all the burning.  It jolted his body awake, he could feely move and speak now, but he was focused on trying to get the fiery feeling out of his mouth.  Marg handed him another glass, this one with milk, and he drank it hastily, the burn disapating.
"Whatever that was," He said when he could breath again, "I do not want to try it again!"  They all laughed a little bit before he continued, "How long was I out?"
"Nearly half a day now Mr. Rapter.  The Lieutenant had to knock you out when you were struggling to get to the mayor!"
"You're quite strong, I didn't know how much longer I could've held you."
"What of Jack?" Warrior Rapter inquired.
"Sent him to a healer to the north.  His injury was a little short of being mortal, but it needed tending to as soon as possible.  I told my man to send word back if anything --"
Suddenly, a man rushed into the tavern, looking out of breath.  The Leiutenant sprang up, a glint of recognition in his eyes, and hurried to the man as he was about to fall down.
"What news Diertry?"
"I'm afraid he couldn't make the trip, sir.  We were ambushed by bandits on the road.  I tried to hurry past them, but by the time I got to the healer, he said it was too late."
The four of them sat in silence, Warrior Rapter and Leiutenant Hutch looking at Marg, both feeling empathic for what she must be feeling now.  The soldier, Diertry, stared at Warrior Rapter, as if puzzling whether to draw his sword on his belt or not.  Marg just stared, a hint of disbelief in her eyes.

Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 5

Warrior Rapter turned toward the mayor and Jacoby.  The mayor handed him a sword, and pointed at the places for Jacoby and him to stand for the start of the duel.  He tried to judge the swords weight without losing what grip he had on the sword.  It wasn't that it was heavy, but the curvature of his claws made it difficult to find a solid grip without almost scratching his hand.
He looked over to Marg and Jack.  They looked as nervous as he did.  He could tell they wanted to tell him that he didn't have to do this, but that they also knew that he had no choice.  He wasn't going to let them be victimized on his behalf.
"I want a clean duel," the mayor intoned, "No dirt throwing, no claws, no biting."  Jacoby and Warrior Rapter nodded before the mayor continued.  "You are to make your opponent yield, that's it.  Start on my mark."
Warrior Rapter could feel his senses heightening, his adrenaline starting to flow.  Time seemed to slow down as he focused his gaze on Jacoby.  He shifted his grip on his sword, managing to hide that he almost lost it when he did, and went into a defensive stance, right foot forward, body tilted back to the left, sword in both hands in front of him held straight.
"Mark."

Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 4

"If you don't mind me asking, Marg, who was that soldier inside the Feather?" asked Warrior Rapter as he was pulling the last of the wood from the barrow.
"He's Leiutenant Gregory Hutch from the King's army.  Says he's down here looking for recruits to aid in the war with the north.  Funny thing is, I don't recall ever hearing about a war before now."
"I have, me dear, and I'm not fond of it, I aint.  I hear tale that they do be battling renegades and gypsies.  Mr. Hutch asked me if I'd join, he did, but I told him I'd have none of it.  Besides, if I did, who would watch the lumber yard?"  Jack added.
"Why would they need more recruits against renegade?" Warrior Rapter inquired.
"Story is they have some sort of powerful mage as their leader, someone who has allies with other creatures, he does.  I don't believe such a word, but it's what I hear."
"Whatever the reason, I do know that Jacoby signed up with him," Marg added.
"That'll be a problem and a half for the King!  If Jacoby gets part of the army, he be the one starting the wars, he would.  Anyway, enough talk about wars, Marg, what say we get Mr. Rapter back to the Feather, eh?"
As they three of them walked back to the tavern, however, Jacoby met them on the road.  He had the mayor of the town, Arnold Niles, with him.  Warrior Rapter couldn't help but wonder why Jacoby had his father with him.
"I heard tell that you were in town, Mr. Rapter.  I also heard that my son gave you a little difficulty at the gate today.  Well, I say good on him --"
"You would," Marg muttered.
Arnold gave her a glare before continuing.  "As I was saying, means Jacoby is to be recruited into the King's army, I feel it best if any disputes he has here be ended before he leaves.  So, I want you and him to duel, Mr. Rapter, match swords against each other in the middle of town until one of you yields --"
"I don't want to fight."  Warrior Rapter started to walk toward the tavern, shoving past Arnold and his son.
"Mr. Rapter, I'm afraid this is an offer you can't refuse.  If you do, I'll not only kick you out of my city, but your friends, Margarette and Jack Willard, as well."
Warrior Rapter stopped in his tracks and paused a moment.
"You would really steep that low as to kick the owners of your lumber yard and tavern out?"
"If it would keep you out of this city once and for all, I'd not only do it, but tell all the city guards to treat them the same way they treat you if they try to come back for any reason."
Warrior Rapter started to look around the block now.  He noticed a crowd was forming, some of them looking pleased at the mayor's words, others shaking their heads.  But they all seemed to be waiting on his response.
"I assume there's to be stakes on this duel as well then?"
"Quite simply put, if you beat my son, I want you gone forever."  Warrior Rapter looked around at the ground again, the one's who had looked pleased before now had mischievious grins on their faces.
"And if I win?"
"I'll put it this way.  You can keep your life the next time you are seen in town."
Warrior Rapter took one last look at the crowd, noticing that the majority of them were smiling now.  They wanted to see him fight, to see him lose.  And he knew he probably would.  Even with his practice sword at home, his claws were cumbersome around an actual blade longer than his dagger.  Sometimes he even had trouble with his practice sword.  He noticed that the soldier, Lieutenant Hutch, was also in the crowd, but unlike the others, he leaned against the corner of a building smoking a pipe, seeming uninterested with what was going on.
Finally, he gave a sigh.  "I'll do it."

Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 3

Warrior Rapter wheeled his barrow toward the northeastern town gate, trying to be cautious with the wound on his back. He knew how the guards of the town would react to him arriving, even if he had returned with wood supplies for years. The two he noticed at the gate this time were Jacoby Niles and Ricard Loles. He prepared himself for the worst.

“Yo, Jacoby, look who 'tis. The great beast of the forest. Yer early this month, creature.”

“I had some bandits attack me earlier today,” Warrior Rapter calmly replied, “I came early to get some stitching.”

“You hear that, Ricard? He was attacked by bandits! Tell me, beastie, was it the same bandits from the place by the tree?” Jacoby smugly replied.

“I waited for you guys by that willow tree for several hours, and you never showed,” Warrior Rapter said, a little riled.

“Oh, did ye now?” Ricard said, “Well, we waited by that there tree ye pointed at when ye were explaining it to us, and we never seen ye.” Ricard pointed the same direction Warrior Rapter had pointed to at the time.

“Although, I have to say, that is the oddest willow tree I e'er did see, looks just like a pine tree to me, but, you can call it what you want” Jacoby added, looking at the tree just outside the gate.

“That is a pine tree, you buffoons, where you not listening to me when I was explaining how to find the bandit camp?” Warrior Rapter's voice was heated.

“Not our fault a beast like ye can't give proper directions,” Ricard intoned.

Warrior Rapter sighed, “Can I just get through the gate to deliver the wood and get some stitching, please?”

“Let a beastie like you terrorize the town? I think he's forgotten himself again, Ricard, what do you think?”

“Aye, that he has. Let's remind him who he is to us.” The both pulled out their clubs and walked toward Warrior Rapter.

“I don't want any trouble,” Warrior Rapter said, backing away from the thugs.

“Well, ain't that a shame, because just being who ye are is trouble, beast!” Ricard replied before he rushed at Warrior Rapter. He clocked Warrior Rapter on the side of the head with his club, which knocked Warrior Rapter to the ground. The two closed in on him.

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.

Warrior Rapter: Legend of a Legend, Chapter 1

The sun's glow upon the leaves of the forest mixed well with the cool autumn breeze flowing between the trees. The colors were a vibrant mixture of reds, greens, oranges, and yellows among the branches of the tall brown oaks, and even the shades seemed to provide their own palette of colors to the mix. A lone worker within the shade was chopping away wood from a tree he had downed near a week past.

He was a Velociraptor, unlike the humans that lived around the forest, his dark green scales and the long jagged black stripe down his back gave a sense of camouflage, but it was counteracted by the brown of his cloth shirt and the leather strap on his waist that held his dagger. He swung the woodsman's ax, splitting the wood it had hit into two halves. He put the two halves onto a pile of his other gatherings for the day, and as he gazed up at the sun between the leaves, decided to head home with is workload. He shouldered his ax, picked up a handle of the barrow, and wheeled it on to his forest home.

When he pulled his collection next to the side of his house, he looked over the clearing on that side, some of which he had cleared himself, and smirked. He had much of the clearing for practicing combat, using combat dummies he made out of some of the extra wood he harvested. He also had a large boulder with a flat top that he would lay on to bask in the sun. He looked back up at the sun through the oval shape sky above the clearing, and decided against basking at the time. He unloaded the barrow, placing the wood neatly piled next to his house. He put the ax leaning against the pile with the blade up off the ground to help prevent rust and bug juices. He went inside to grab his wooden practice sword and practiced his attacks, defenses, and stances until his scaly skin glistened with sweat. He looked back up the sun and decided to use the rest of the time before it hid behind the trees to bask before heading into the house to sleep for the night.