Through crusty, drooping eyes, Black Talon watched as the sun began to rise, signalling that it was time to get ready.

He shut his eyes. This was it. He was leaving the place where his pack had been hunting for years before he came along, the place that had been the closest thing to a home he could ever have. His cave was always his favourite area- he had lost count of the times it had sheltered him before he had joined on that fateful day one year ago. Before he joined, the crystals in the cave had, at first, kept the loneliness away. His young mind had been fascinated by their beauty, and it distracted him for a while. But then, he grew a bit. Beauty had no meaning to him anymore. When he met the pack, the concept of beauty came back to him. Friendship was beautiful. To him, it had been the most beautiful thing in the world. Love, trust, warmth, comfort. Now it was all gone, and he was forgetting what it was like. He was forgetting the love, the trust, the warmth, the comfort, and it scared him. He didn't want to forget any of it.

He didn't want to forget beauty again.

He opened his eyes. It didn't matter much. It was Life, and Life was cruel and without mercy. It wanted him to suffer. He knew it wouldn't let him rest. He was going to pay for that one year of pure happiness that he had experienced. Of course he was. Life was getting so horrible that it was starting to get predictable for him. Wake up, suffer, sleep. Wake up, suffer, sleep. Repeat. Over and over and over again.

'Wake up,' He growled under his breath, and shoved Sharp Claw with his foot, taking out some of his locked-up emotions on the young raptor.

Sharp Claw opened his eyes and got up, with narrowed eyes. Fuzzy began to stir, scratching at his face.

'That hurt...' Sharp Claw commented, staring at Black Talon in disapproval.

'We're leaving,' He replied, ignoring his hurt reaction. 'Wake the others up now.'

Sharp Claw sighed, and gently nudged Midnight and Leafie with his snout. The two herbivores stretched out their legs and yawned, then opened their eyes.

'Hello,' Sharp Claw smiled, even though they would not be able to understand him. Midnight licked the tip of his snout, while Leafie affectionately nudged him. 'We need to go now, to the safe place. Come on, now, let's go...' He whispered to them carefully, and slowly raised himself up, beaming at them.

Black Talon snorted in annoyance and left. 'Hurry up, before I leave you behind.'

'Coming!' Sharp Claw padded after the older raptor, while Fuzzy clutched on to his back, and the two herbivores scurried from behind him.

---

They entered the brightening forest. Black Talon sniffed the air- he couldn't smell any Virals that posed a threat. There was a herd of viral Triceratops to the East, and a lone viral Tyrannosaurus a mile south to them, but not anything viral up to the north, which was the direction they were going in.

Leafie suddenly ran forwards, and joined Black Talon, staring up at him with curious eyes.

Black Talon merely ignored him.

But this did not discourage the young Pachycephalosaurus. He didn't stop staring at his face (presumably at his facial scars), acting as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever witnessed.

Black Talon felt something very uncomfortable grow in his chest.

'Can you get him to stop looking at me like that?' He didn't turn to look at Sharp Claw as he mumbled the question- he kept looking onwards, as if looking back would not allow him to leave.

'Sorry, Leafie is a bit stubborn... when he wants to do something, he does it,' Sharp Claw explained.

Black Talon kept ignoring the Pachycephalosaurus, not even glancing. But he couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable. Were his scars really that obvious? He shuddered, not liking the feeling that he was being watched.

He had many scars that came from many things. They decorated his body, and had done so for years, ever since he became a rogue. But there was one from before all of that began- one that slashed through his eye. It had almost ripped his eye from the socket when it had happened.

His own mother had tried to kill him.

He had had a rather normal childhood, but had been clingier than most raptor chicks. But, he was still respected by both his parents and siblings- he was not particularly smart or strong, but was not a runt either, and he was small, yes, but not weak. Until, of course, came the day he had to leave the nest.

All his siblings had already left to find packs of their own at least a week before, and his parents had become sick of looking after him. They tried to make him leave with small nips at first, but he proved to be stubborn. So, they attempted to take his life. This was not uncommon in nature, just another cruel fact of Life.

When they had missed bashing his skull in, and instead had almost ripped out his eye, he ran away in terror. That was only the first of many horrific experiences to plague his life, and compared to the years of hell that lay ahead, it was mild. Black Talon was quick to learn that, to survive as a lone raptor, he would have to stop caring. And yet, he joined a pack and started caring, contradicting his own rules. It was so pathetic- of course, Life had to put him back in his place. He couldn't live in peace, of course he couldn't. Life was cruel. Life hated him. Life—

'Black Talon?' Sharp Claw asked, with an unsure tone in his voice.

'What?' He growled back.

'You looked really deep in thought there... I was just checking to see how you are...' Sharp Claw murmured.

'I'm brilliant, just brilliant,' Black Talon replied, rather rudely.

'I also want to ask if we can stop soon... Midnight is getting a bit tired here, and— '

A sudden screech cut him off.

Everyone froze.

Black Talon sniffed the air, eyes swivelling around. His stomach dropped.

'It's a viral.'

Sharp Claw nervously began to move away.

'No, stop!' Black Talon hissed. 'I need to get more information about it, it could be anywhere.'

He took in another sniff, while an entire hoard of screeches sounded out, accompanied by the scream of a Hadrosaur. Shutting his eyes, he took in everything- 600 meters away, pack of Pterosaurs, most definitely viral, attacking some poor creature. He shuddered when he realised there was anywhere in between 150-200 of them.

'When I tell you to run, you run,' He growled at Sharp Claw. 'If you, or anyone else from your pack, cannot keep up, do not expect me to help you. There is a waterfall nearby, and behind it is a small cave. They will not be able to enter it, but we can. You know where it is, don't you?'

Sharp Claw nodded. Black Talon snorted, and looked up to the skies. Some distance away, very faintly, he could see the viral pack of Pterosaurs. They resembled a cloud, jerking and diving onto unseen prey. They were black, with a menacing crest and needle-like teeth. Powerful leathery wings, enormous talons, dark yellow eyes with blood red veins. They were a real threat.

'Okay. Now, when we start running, some will notice us and chase after us. So, we need to be very quick. Do you understand?'

'...Yes...'

'Good.'

Sharp Claw, with Fuzzy clutching his back, crept up to Black Talon, followed by Leafie and Midnight.

Black Talon kept staring at the skies with his brown eyes, squinting.

'Run! Now!'

They took off, running through the forest. Tall trees swept past them, their branches partially hiding them from the view of the pterosaurs.

Black Talon, racing onwards, noticed at the corner of his eye- a pterosaur, flapping its elongated leathery wings to stay airborne, had spotted them with its acute eyesight. It opened its toothed maw, and screeched loudly, alerting the others. One by one, they began to turn, and saw the group of creatures sprinting from them.

Sharp Claw, with wide eyes, turned and looked behind himself for a few moments as he ran.

'Don't look back!' Black Talon snarled, and the youngster instantly looked forwards again.

'Th-they're coming for us!' He stammered in sheer terror, his pupils enormous with fear.

'I said don't look back!' Black Talon snapped, moving his limbs as fast as he could. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

Could this really be the end? He thought. He could hear them, they were coming closer and closer, cawing at each other and flapping their tattered wings.

They're coming... He stared forwards, eyes fixated on something in front of him.

I mustn't look back.

He could hear the snapping of aggressive jaws, swarming closer and closer.

I can't look back!

Their cries were louder than anything he had ever heard.

I...

He quickly glanced behind him.

The swarm was right there.

Every single individual pterosaur he had seen was chasing after him and his allies, wanting for nothing more than to mindlessly tear at their flesh and infect them. Their eyes bulged with an empty lust for blood, their jaws salivated with anticipation.

Black Talon felt his heart freeze.

'Don't stop! We're nearly there!' He instantly turned around, noticing that everyone was ahead of him. 'Don't look back!'

He could feel the terror pulse through his body, powering him with great energy.

They're going to tear me apart! They're going to tear me apart! I won't even become a viral, they will just rip me to shreds!

They ran out of the edge of the forest, into an open field. Not far away was a small waterfall.

'In there! Now!'

They all began to run towards it, hyperventilating. Black Talon swore he could feel the breath of one of the pterosaurs right behind him.

The first to reach the waterfall was Sharp Claw and Fuzzy. The fast Acheroraptor quickly slid behind the waterfall, into the small cave within, while the rodent gripped onto his feathers.

They're right behind me! I can feel it!

Next was Leafie. He entered with a fearful grunt, followed by Midnight.

Black Talon snuck one more look behind him.

He saw the wide-open jaws of one of the pterosaurs, ready to snap down on him.

He roared in fear, and turned away, lowering himself so he could run faster. He could feel water splash around his feet- only a few meters now!

He pounced forwards, screeching. The waterfall crashed against his feathered coat, drenching him, and he fell onto the cold, hard floor of the cave behind.

Safe.

The pterosaurs cawed angrily outside. Black Talon suddenly saw a black, toothed beak poke through the waterfall and slash into the mouth of the cave, only to get stuck.

'Get away!' He ordered the others, though they did not need to be told. They all scrabbled back, while the pterosaur snarled in frustration, and pulled its head out. Nonetheless, they could still hear the swarm, angrily growling about their failure outside.

Black Talon could only watch in shock for a few moments. That had been far too close.

'Is everyone okay?' He asked, moving away from the cave opening instinctively. He looked out at the others. They all stared at him, breathing heavily and dripping in water. No one responded.

Black Talon turned back to the opening. There was no way the pterosaurs would be able to get inside, lucky for them.

'We should rest while we can...' Black Talon said to the others, his breath shuddering. 'Once it's safe, we are going to leave.'

Sharp Claw blinked, then slowly, he nodded, tears leaking from his terrified eyes.

'In fact, we should sleep while we can. We may not have another chance for who knows how long.'