Dawn. Gradually, the light of the rising sun filtered through the mouth of the cave. The crystals inside twinkled, reflecting the light brightly into Black Talon's eyes. Slowly, he opened them, sides rising and falling as he breathed at a calm rate. Squinting, he stifled a small yawn, and got up. He still wasn't too sure of how he would tell his three friends about before, but he had promised to do so, and would come up with something somehow. Itching his feathered head, he stretched his legs, then moved out of the cave, into the forest.

Small insects buzzed around plants dotted with morning dew. Black Talon strode on, thinking about Fleet Claw, Razor Feather and Thorn Tooth. He could still vividly remember when he first met them- meeting them was what helped him integrate into the pack life...

---

'Why did you protect us?' Quick Blade, the pack leader, asked Black Talon, who stood triumphantly on the carcass of a dead Dakotaraptor. Other raptors watched, still in a state of shock from the attack of the crazed Dakotaraptor, who had been brought down by the mysterious rogue Acheroraptor.

'My name is Black Talon, and I want to join your pack!' He announced, standing tall. 'I am a rogue, but I have been searching for a pack for a long time. I brought down this aggressive Dakotaraptor to show you my strength, to prove to you that I can be useful! Please accept me!'

Quick Blade tilted his head, curiously. 'I cannot accept you quite yet, but I will allow you to stay around this territory if you agree to help us with hunts and looking after young. I may or may not accept you depending on how you act within this clan. Just know that if you dare harm any of us, we will kill you without hesitation.'

'I accept that.'

Quick Blade nodded his head. 'Good. Now please, get off that carcass. I have a pack to feed.'

Black Talon pounced off, somewhat reluctantly. Quick Blade moved forwards and began to eat, but none of the other raptors joined him until he swished his tail to the left. Then, the others all moved to him to join in, all except three of them- one red, one silver, one brown. They were staring at Black Talon as if he was some kind of fascinating new creature. Black Talon stared back.

'Hello!' Fleet Claw blurted out. Thorn Tooth nudged her suddenly, as if trying to make her keep quiet. Fleet Claw gently kicked him back.

'It's Black Talon, right?' She asked, turquoise eyes glinting.

'Yes.'

'You're a rogue, aren't you?' (Razor Feather)

'I was.'

'Why are you covered in so many scars? That's kind of weird... are you aggressive or something??' (Fleet Claw)

'No. Life is just cruel.'

'Huh. So, were there any rules when you were a rogue?' (Fleet Claw)

'No. Please, use your common sense.'

The three suddenly snorted, but managed to hold in what would have been a sudden burst of laughter.

'Do you know anything about pack rules?' (Thorn Tooth)

'No. I am going to need assistance with that.'

'We can help!' (Fleet Claw)

Black Talon looked at the three distastefully. They seemed very eager to know more about him, which was a bit strange. The only one who seemed a bit unsure was Thorn Tooth, but the other two seemed extremely trusting.

Black Talon did a mental shrug. He did not understand why they were being rather nice, and he knew that this friendliness could easily be faked, but he decided- why not?

'Go ahead if you wish.'

The faces of Fleet Claw and Razor Feather seemed to light up, while Thorn Tooth raised a brow, as if surprised.

And that was the moment their friendship began to bloom.

---

He could see it now- the edge of the forest. That was where everyone was, where his friends were. He would tell them everything - they deserved to know. Fleet Claw, Razor Feather, and Thorn Tooth- he trusted them, and knew that they were ready to know.

He burst through the bush, pouncing out. It was finally time- time to tell his friends of what life was like before, and how they changed his opinion of life.

But he was wrong.

His brain processed what his eyes were seeing.

There was no one in sight.

Just feathers. And blood.

He landed on the ground, feeling his heart drop. His eyes widened.

What happened here...?

Scanning the empty land, he could see nothing but a meadow splattered in red, and hear nothing but a howling wind.

'Fleet Claw!! Razor Feather! Thorn Tooth!!' He screamed out, desperately. 'ANYONE!!'

No response.

For a few moments, he waited, unable to believe. The pack- it had to be somewhere, right? That place he had stood on, only hours ago, was bustling with Acheroraptors. But now, there was nothing.

'PLEASE! SOMEONE ANSWER!'

...

...

'You have to get out of here.'

Black Talon suddenly gasped. He recognised that voice- it was Fleet Claw! He quickly looked around, his heart beating faster and faster.

'Where are you!?' He snarled, trembling.

'I said get out!'

He saw, at the top of a tall tree in the meadow, Fleet Claw, hiding. She clung to her branch, watching with narrow, empty eyes.

'What happened? Please, speak to me!'

'I said go!'

He could see Fleet Claw lift her lips and snarl. Black Talon's heart stopped- Fleet Claw never acted like this! Something was very wrong. He could just stare, shocked by his friend.

There was a rustle from behind him.

Black Talon slowly turned, and saw something truly horrific hiding in the bushes.

A pair of glowing eyes. The sclera was jet black, and the slit iris glowed a strong yellow colour, without any pupils inside them. Red veins twisted in the eye like scarlet rivers. Blood streamed from the shimmering orbs.

Black Talon froze, noticing the brown feathers around the eyes. It was Quick Blade.

Every instinct in his body told him to run.

And yet, he couldn't.

All he could do was stare at the monster before him. This was not Quick Blade- it couldn't be! And yet, it was- he recognised the scent to be that of his alpha.

Suddenly, Quick Blade jumped out, jaws agape. Black Talon gasped and quickly pounced back, horrified. The teeth in Quick Blade's mouth looked as if they had been pushed out, jutting out at an unnatural length from the raptor's jaws. Massive, open scars decorated his bloodied body.

Quick Blade landed on the ground, and instantly jumped towards Black Talon, whipping out his claws in front of him and screeching loudly.

Black Talon shut his eyes. He should not have jumped back- his position was utterly defenceless. This was his end. He waited to feel the sharp pain of claws tearing into his exposed body.

That pain never came.

As he hit the ground, he opened his eyes to see Fleet Claw slamming her tail into Quick Blades body, sending him flying off to the side.

'Get up!' Fleet Claw snarled, grabbing Black Talon by the arm and hauling him up. 'We have to run!'

The two sprinted into the forest, not daring to stop, not daring to look back.

'I know where we can hide! Follow me!' Black Talon said. Fleet Claw nodded, and the two set off in the direction of the crystal cave.

---

Safe. They lay on the floor, surrounded by crystals. The sun was up high, and things were eerily quiet.

'Tell me what happened,' Black Talon ordered. He needed to know what was going on.

Fleet Claw glared at Black Talon.

'...Please.'

'I don't know much. It happened about one hour after you left,' Fleet Claw said. Her tone was oddly cool.

'While you were gone, I, Thorn Tooth and Razor Feather heard this loud scream in the distance. It was an Acheroraptor- we recognised it to be Moon Pelt.'

Moon Pelt was an albino, who had gone hunting with Fleet Claw during the most recent hunt.

'Her friends seemed worried, and we realised it came from the place where we found the carcass together. We figured that the corpse has something to do with it, because when we found it she was the only one who wanted to eat it. She must have gotten hungry and decided to eat from it for an easy meal. For fifteen minutes, nothing really happened, but her friends were getting very uneasy and nervous. They sensed something was wrong, and they left because apparently, they had a gut feeling that bad things were about to happen. I really envy them...'

'Why?' Black Talon asked, stomach squirming. He needed to know.

'Because they escaped the attack.'

'What?'

'The attack. Moon Pelt returned, but... it wasn't really her. Her body was covered in scars and blood, her teeth were long and jagged... You saw those eyes, didn't you? She had those. Empty, soulless, dead. And she seemed completely crazed. She jumped out of nowhere and bit Quick Blade. That was when it began. Quick Blade began screaming this out-of-control kind of scream. Suddenly, scars began to appear all over his body, tearing open for no apparent reason. Finally, those eyes. Then, he attacked someone, and the chaos began. I barely understood what was happening, but I escaped by climbing up that tree and hiding among its leaves. But there was so much screaming and... so much blood... whatever it is, it's contagious. Whoever was bitten, whoever got blood in their eyes... they transformed into them.'

Black Talon could only stare in silence. His pack- the only thing he found worth fighting for- was eroding like cliffs by a fierce sea.

'... Do you remember who transformed and who didn't...?' He asked quietly, his voice almost reduced to a whimper.

'No.'

'What about Razor Feather? And Thorn Tooth? Are they safe?'

'I don't know.'

Those words hit him like a thousand sharp talons ripping at him. The fate of two of his friends was completely unknown, but for all he knew, they could be dead and rotting away, or worse, have become infected. He felt a sudden anger at the world, at everything.

'Why didn't you help them?' He snarled, narrowing his eyes.

Fleet Claw looked at him, somewhat surprised to see her rather stoic friend suddenly acting like this. Fleet Claw quickly blinked away tears as she remembered...

'There was nothing I could do, everything was happening so quickly, I could only- '

'You should have looked out for them!'

'Stop snarling! I did what I could!' Fleet Claw roared out, tears streaming from her eyes.

There was a silence between the two. Black Talon realised his snarls had no rationality behind them. Fleet Claw would have probably died if she tried to help the other two.

'I'm glad you're alive...' Black Talon sighed. 'I'm sorry. I just feel so overwhelmed...'

'Yeah well so do I!' Fleet Claw snapped, while her tears dripped onto the floor. 'I saw so many of my friends! So many of them try to escape and fail! I saw them scream, I saw them writhe, I saw them cry! I've known everyone in the pack since birth! And now, I just might have lost all of them!'

The realisation that his pack was truly gone hit him hard, like a meteorite slamming into a planet. Tears began to appear in his eyes. Normally, when such a thing would happen, he was able to blink them back. Not this time. They slid down his cheeks in large quantities. He didn't bother to wipe them away. Fleet Claw glared at him with trembling breath. Then, with a sigh, her gaze softened.

'...I'm sorry... I... I'm glad I at least have you... It's just so horrible... I never imagined that something like this would happen...'

'Don't apologise,' Black Talon replied. 'I understand.'

He looked at the ground, trying to focus on stopping the oncoming army of tears in his eyes. A period of time passed by, but he didn't know how long it was- he had to stop weeping.

'It's okay to cry.'

'Huh?'

Black Talon looked up to see Fleet Claw smiling at him.

'It's okay. Don't feel ashamed.'

Black Talon blinked at her, quietly.

'...Do you still want to hear about everything before...?' He asked, not looking Fleet Claw in the eye.

'Of course, but not right now... even if you did promise,' Fleet Claw chuckled weakly. 'We should first figure out what we do.'

'I don't want to find another pack,' Black Talon sighed. 'What pack would accept a rule breaking rogue like me?'

'Who knows? I'm sure we'll find one that will.'

'We should also consider finding one out of this area. This virus, disease, parasite, whatever it is- it can be transferred easily, right?' Black Talon asked.

Fleet Claw's visage drained of her smile as images of what had happened flashed in her mind.

'Yes. Very easily.'

This is going to be much harder than I thought, Black Talon thought.

'Does this virus effect anyone from outside our species? Other saurians, rodents? Fish? Birds?'

'I don't know.'

There was a long silence between the two. Fleet Claw shut her eyes.

I'll never see any of them again, will I? She thought to herself, remembering the many faces she had grown up with over the years. Surely some must still be alive and not yet transformed... They can't all have lost themselves, could they? There are so many of them, some must be okay. When we find them, we can rebuild... if we find them, that is... Coal Claw must be okay, she's a real fighter. And Bush Tail, he's small but really fast, so he has a chance. Someone must be out there, they must be...