Stories of Legends Past
“Hurry up, Varclaw!” Redfeather said as he hurried along through the grass, eager to reach the meadow below the base of the mountain. “I don’t wanna miss the story of the dragon and the acro, it’s my favorite one!” Varclaw rolled his eyes and grumbled, “But you’ve heard it a thousand times. Hasn’t Jade told you that story enough?” “Nope!” the young novaraptor said cheerfully, flapping his still-growing wings as he hopped over a rock. His brother sighed and continued to wander unhurried after the excited youngster. “It’s not like it changes, you know. The whole pack knows about it. You used to play it with Sandra all the time. She had to make you stop after a while cause you always wanted to be the dragon.” “Duh!” Redfeather flapped his wings again. “The dragon can fly!” “The dragon isn’t real,” Varclaw growled, nipping at his brother to herd him in the right direction even though they both knew where they were going. He was tired of hearing the same stories from the ancient oviraptor, but all the little ones wanted to hear about the same old fight that probably didn’t even happen. Varclaw didn’t even want to see Jade today. Sure, she was kinda cool because she was a good story-teller, but she was also old and thin and was probably the most frail oviraptor he’d ever seen. What could she even do? He didn’t have anything against the old birdraptor, but apart from watching the hatchlings, why did the pack still insist on keeping her around? As they finally neared the clearing, the pack’s many other novaraptors, some feathered, some scaled, and some even furry, were gathered around her, listening eagerly as the old oviraptor gave broad gestures with her arms, head, and even her tail as she held everyone’s attention with her story.
“It was then that Kaji, burning with fury for his rival, shot himself high into the air on a great pillar of fire, taller than any tyrant to walk the island. Draco tried to run so his plan would have more time to work, but the fire surrounded him.” Jade stood tall, looming over the closest hatchlings as she spoke, her age-ragged feathers casting a shadow on them as they all leaned back with wide eyes. “Oh no, I’m missing it!” Redfeather whined and shot forward, shoving himself into the group in order to catch what he could. Varclaw rolled his eyes and took his time walking the rest of the way to the group. It wasn’t like it was going to miraculously change. “Kaji slammed down into the circle to confront Draco, trapping him among the searing flames,” Jade continued, her face dark and exaggerated. “He began to prowl forward, ready to finish the job. But as Draco searched the skies, he saw the clouds beginning to darken. ‘Do you know what would make you flames taste better?’ he challenged. Kaji hesitated, mistrustful of the tone in Draco’s voice. ‘If you add water!’” Varclaw rolled his eyes as all the hatchlings, including Redfeather, gasped in excitement. That was such a cheesy line, why on earth did they all thing that made any sense? Clearly, none of these chicks had ever been burned by real flames before. But he had been warned in the past about ruining Jade’s fun, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Enraged, Kaji returned to his acro form and lunged, his jaws gaping for Draco. But the samurai was ready, and he rapidly returned to his dragon form with a mighty roar, holding Kaji in place as a great water bolt shot down from the sky. Water began to flood from the lake, and the earth shook harder than a rockslide as fire and steam shot upward in a great explosion that could be felt for miles in all directions!” Jade gave another broad, sweeping gesture of her feathered arms, leaning back to take her shadow away from the hatchlings as they all had wide eyes glued to her. “As droplets of water and bits of fire began to sizzle down to the earth, the evil Kaji was finally defeated. The dragon had won at last. But not before taking his own last breath, and passing on to join his mate. The Valley, the Chimeras, and the pack were all finally safe.” The chicks began to cheer despite the sad ending to the story, many of them chanting for Draco as though this fictional creature might hear their cries and bless them in a dream or some such nonsense. Varclaw rolled his eyes again, sighing as he hopped onto a smaller boulder nearby so he could act as a lookout while he watched his brother and the others. “Aww, I missed the whole thing!” Redfeather groaned, his little hands clutching at his head in a frustrated fashion. Jade smiled, and reached one hand out to ruffle his head-feathers. “Oh, you’ve heard that one plenty of times before, Redfeather.” “But it’s my favorite! Draco is so cool!” “Yes, he truly was an amazing friend.” Jade’s voice had grown soft, and her eyes held a distant sadness. Varclaw raised a brow. Everyone always went on about how scary Kaji was and how awesome Draco was, but he’d never caught Jade giving that reaction before. The story was ridiculous, that couldn’t be real. “Did you really know Draco?” asked a smaller hatchling, apparently sharing Varclaw’s skepticism. “Like, for real?”
The oviraptor nodded, her smile growing warm once again. “I sure did. I was here when they fought. That little hill on the other side of the river you all like to wrestle in just before you reach the path leading to the ruins is where the explosion happened.” Many of the hatchlings grew excited by this and wanted to go look at it a second time, but Jade reigned them in with a chuckle. “Now now, you all need to stay here until the hunting party gets back. Besides, the hill isn’t going anywhere.” “Did you really hear what they were saying?” the same hatchling asked again, her head tilted. Varclaw paid close attention. He’d always wanted to question the old oviraptor further, but the last time he tried to all the hatchlings and even older members of the pack got mad at him for it. He wondered how Jade would handle the same line of thought coming from one so small. Jade gave a slow nod as her eyes grew distant, looking out over the hill. “Yes, I did. It was difficult to make out because I was so frightened, but I still heard them. I was very sad when Draco died. He was my best friend....” “You mean you were really the oviraptor trying to help hide the chimeras the whole time?” another chick asked with wide eyes. “Of course I was,” Jade replied. “How else would I know what happened? I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Draco.” Varclaw thought he saw a subtle shudder pass through Jade, and he wondered what thoughts she had. Sure, he always thought Kaji was scary when he first heard the story too, but Jade always seemed eager to tell it whenever the others asked, so it couldn’t have been that bad. What had her spooked? The skeptical hatchling piped up again, gesturing with her muzzle to the ovirpator’s side. “Is that where you got those scars?”
Jade blinked and turned to look at one side for a moment, giving everyone a clear view of the clawmarks along her sides and legs. To Varclaw, these didn’t look anything like burns or an acro bite. He’d gotten into enough disagreements with some of his packmates to know what a novaraptor’s claws looked like when they didn’t quite heal. “Oh,” Jade replied, and Varclaw caught that same distant sadness again as she returned her attention to the chicks. “No, those came from my daughter, Delphi.” Everyone lifted their heads sharply at that, and a flurry of questions came out of the small group. “You had more chicks?” “But we’ve never seen any other oviraptors in the pack.” “We thought you only had Shrike and Ivria.” “How many hatchlings did you have, Jade?” Jade raised her arms again and gestured for the youngsters to calm down, though even Varclaw wanted to know these answers. Most of the time, the pack had seen plenty of oviraptors, but most of the time they were allies. It was difficult to be an egg thief when half of the raptors in a pack had weird powers and abilities. Redfeather was the first novaraptor known to have wings, and Varclaw could summon steam and fog at will when he wanted to; though he did need a lot more practice. “I’m afraid that one’s a much more sad story, little ones,” Jade said as she looked to the group. “I don’t know if you all are ready to hear that one yet.” “I am.” Varclaw wasn’t able to stop himself from saying it. The hatchlings knew of the adventures of Shrike as he trained with Draco to bring down the titan rex Kane. They knew of Ivria and her acro friend Chiara coming to help Jade against the monster that was Oryx and his army. But Varclaw couldn’t recall there being any tales about any other offspring the oviraptor may have had.
Jade looked over to Varclaw, and some of the other chicks followed her gaze curiously. She studied him for a moment, then slowly looked back to the hatchlings. “Well… I supposed it couldn’t hurt to know where your pack came from.” Everyone blinked and exchanged curious looks with one another, and even Redfeather seemed less disappointed that he wasn’t going to get a repeat of the Draco story. “Didn’t we just come from our parents, and they from theres, and so on?” “Yes, but you all came from my last two daughters,” Jade replied. Varclaw was surprised by that one, and the chicks seemed confused, as well. How could one oviraptor be that old? “You can’t be that old,” said the skeptical hatchling. Varclaw could not remember her name. “Novas and ovis don’t live that long.” Jade smiled, and Varclaw again caught that sadness in her eyes. He didn’t know of any other creature that expressed themselves with their eyes as much as this old oviraptor. Not even other oviraptors had such expressive eyes. “You’re right, normal novaraptors and oviraptors don’t live that long.” “… was it Avalon?” asked Redfeather, almost afraid to say the word.
The whole pack knew what Avalon was. They were the evil humans that had hurt so many dinosaurs all over the island. On the one hand, they had been directly responsible for a lot of the powers that all dinosaurs now had the potential to carry, but they had been forced on them. Jade had told them many stories about the evil Doctor Moeko who worked for Avalon, who was responsible for the beast that was Kaji. Even their parents had stories about Avalon humans, passed down from their parents, and then theirs, who had direction encounters with them. Everyone knew their insignia and what to look out for, and it was the reason why their alliances with other dinosaur species had become so important. Rumors had it that sometimes Avalon humans would come back and try to take over. The pack was not allied with every single dinosaur on the island, as the place was too big, and everybody needed to hunt. Not everyone was agreeable, either. But almost all of them were united against Avalon, or at least as much as they could be. “Yes,” Jade said after a long pause. “It was.” “… what did they do to you?” the question was asked with some understandable hesitation. Everyone knew Avalon humans were cruel, but nobody had met someone who had direct contact with them in at least one generation, maybe two. Jade’s apprehension became obvious to even the less observant hatchlings. She took a small step back, her eyes troubled as they swept over the hatchlings, Varclaw included. She glanced over to some of the other lookout raptors posted around the meadow. There were about three of them, older than Varclaw but not part of the hunting party. They each glanced at her, and there must have been something that passed between them, for Jade took in a long slow breath, letting it out as she returned her gaze to the hatchlings, who began to look uncomfortable. “Avalon… turned me into an oviraptor because I did not like what they were doing to the dinosaurs….”
The silence was dragged on long enough that Varclaw began to wonder if they all had the same jarring idea. Only one species could possibly live as long as Jade had suggested, and even the most confused hatchlings couldn’t help shrinking down as they began to put the pieces together. Jade looked pained and afraid, and despite his own shock at the revelation, Varclaw also realized that Jade never seemed to genuinely be afraid of anything that was not already mentioned in her stories. She had been alarmed by threats before and helped to protect everyone under her care, but she had never shown this kind of… fear before. “You’re a human...” The skeptical hatchling asked quietly. “… I was, yes. That’s why I’ve been around for so long….” The sadness hurt Varclaw somehow. The pack knew to be wary of humans, especially Avalon humans. But no one had any stories about the Avalon humans turning on each other. If Jade was an Avalon human, she would have done something bad to them all by now, wouldn’t she? She was so old, and she had been careful to warn everyone about the importance of staying united in case the real Avalon ever did show up again. But she had to be part of the Avalon pack for them to turn on her like that. No wonder she was afraid, he realized. Varclaw may not have been particularly close to the old oviraptor, but nobody in the pack denied how much she cared for everyone, especially the youngsters. Always quick to help with chicksitting and keeping eggs warm when there weren’t any extra adults to spare during hunts and patrols. Always ready to hide eggs and hatchlings alike whenever it seemed like the weather or other dinosaurs and animals might threaten them. She was not like Avalon. She wanted them to stop.
Varclaw stood and walked over next to Jade, sensing her unease as the oviraptor looked at her. He bumped his muzzle against her shoulder the way he might do for his grandmother. “What did you do? We want to know. How did you get here, and who were the ones that helped start our pack? We hear about Shrike and Draco and Miraak all the time. But we don’t get to hear a lot about you. And we wanna know where we come from.” “… are we all part human, too?” the skeptical hatchling added. Jade looked at Varclaw, and gave him a small smile, her eyes showing a cautious relief and appreciation. She nodded her head at him, and as he joined the rest of the hatchlings, Jade began her story. “No, none of you share my blood. You come from two novaraptors that I adopted. Their names were Cassie and Delphi. One was feathered, white with orange-and-black spots, and the other was arctic blue and white, scaled. Neither of them had any powers. But their mates did, and that’s how you all began to inherit them.” She slowly sank back into the grass as she spoke, and Varclaw sensed the unease from the hatchlings begin to turn into curiosity again. “Delphi was always a very important novaraptor to me. She joined my pack before the threat of Kane, and before the final battle with Kaji. She was raised by non-Avalon humans, and knowing what that kind of abandonment can do to someone else, I took her in so she wouldn’t be alone. I didn’t know Miraak at the time I adopted her, and Frieze was already dead, so I saw her as the daughter I never got to have. I still didn’t know Ivria was a live then. A small, shad smile. “I don’t make a very good mother.”
Her head lifted, and Varclaw and the other hatchlings listened intently to a story that was not one they were used to. Jade was less animated, spinning a tale of great misunderstanding and many mistakes during the build-up to the battle with Oryx. How she had noticed that Delphi had gone missing, but knew the young novaraptor would sometimes do that and be back in a few days. How she had worried about her, but was so afraid of losing her non-powered, headstrong daughter to Oryx that she thought it was better if the monster didn’t know who or where she was, especially since he had been able to get into Miraak’s head often, and in turn had gotten to the likes of Scorch and others to create his army. None of the hatchlings really knew how to take the idea of a mother making such a mistake, and Varclaw could see they were confused to learn that an entire year had gone by without looking for Delphi. The most frequently asked question was, “Why didn’t you look next?” And Jade’s answer was always a pained, “Because I thought I was doing the right thing. And I was very wrong.” The story came to a head when the hatchlings learned for the first time that at some point Miraak had died, or that at least Jade believed he had. Because of how much she had loved Miraak, Jade didn’t want to remember the pain of that loss and chose to forget everything. Varclaw wasn’t entirely sure how you could make yourself forget something so traumatic. He still regularly felt the sting of his own father’s death at the horns of a carnotaur just last season. But he could certainly understand the want to forget.
“The scars on my side,” Jade said, gesturing to them finally, “Are from Delphi. When she found me, she wanted to prove her worth. She believed I had abandoned her, and she was right. And I was so scared to lose her again that I did not fight back. I let her tear into me. I deserved it, plain and simple. A dark novaraptor named Onyx came and threatened to kill me if I didn’t submit. Then Cassie, who I had adopted before this happened, called Miraak, Ren, and Toffee to help protect me. Delphi knew she couldn’t fight them all, so she retreated. And I didn’t know it then, but apparently Onyx abandoned her, too.” She looked at the hatchlings, some of them appearing overwhelmed and others looking very sad. “You know how your parents are always telling you it’s important to remember everything that you can? It’s okay to forget sometimes, or to forget little things every once in a while, but when you forget like I did you lose everything. This is why you never got to meet Ren or Toffee. They were the last Chimeras that I knew. This is also why I don’t have anymore chicks of my own. After my fight with Delphi, even Miraak left....” Varclaw dared to glance at the hatchlings. They all seemed upset. Some of them were young enough that the deeper impact of the story went over their heads, and he guessed that they were more upset they never got to meet Miraak or Draco’s son. They knew the Chimeras had really long lives because of whatever twisted things Doctor Moeko had done with them, and they knew that Miraak was really a dragon. The idea that they could still be alive but not around upset some of the hatchlings. But the others were disturbed by Jade’s story and the idea that parents didn’t always know what they were doing.
“It’s okay, little ones,” Jade said gently. “Your parents all do a very good job. I’ve seen it. They all take great care to teach you everything you need to know.” She smiled despite what must have been a great personal agony. “Did you and Delphi ever make up?” Redfeather asked in a quiet voice. “Oh, certainly.” Jade’s voice grew more upbeat now, much like her normal self. “An Avalon-raptor named Hodari helped me and Cassie track her down. We saved her life, and once she was healthy again, we began to talk things out. It took her a long time to get along with Cassie, because she felt replaced in the beginning. But eventually they got along very well. Getting Delphi and Hodari to get along was a whole other story, heh.” Varclaw glanced at the hatchling group again, and many of them looked to be recovering from the sad story, even the skeptical one. He remembered who she was now. Shyla, a young feathered novaraptor who was the only one in her family to have no powers. He’d liked her sharp mind, and he could easily see how she might feel a lot like Delphi as far as being looked over was concerned. “How did they get along? Were they mates in the end?” Jade chuckled. “Where do you think you all come from?” “Then who did Cassie get?” “Oh, a young male about her age found her. I think he said his name was Rayclaw. It’s been a long time and he didn’t really get along with me that well at first because I’m an oviraptor. But once Cassie made him choose, he calmed down.” “Hey Jade,” asked Shyla, “What was it like while you were in Avalon?” Jade gave a small frown. “It was scary. But I think you’ve had enough sad and scary stories for today. Besides it looks like the hunting party is back.”
All heads turned as they spied many novaraptors hauling a large iguanodon carcass along the opposite side of the meadow toward a shady area to keep it hidden from pteranodons, doing so with the help of a pair of carnotaur allies. Varclaw growled and looked away, but the hatchlings were quick to get to their feet with excited chirps about food. The lookouts came to help Jade round everyone up and take them in for the feast, though as usual the oviraptor stayed back and let the rest of the pack eat first. “Varclaw,” she said gently as the young male was about to join everyone. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you were willing to understand.” He looked at Jade for a moment, then shrugged. “Everyone deserves a fair chance, right? You couldn’t help that humans hatched you.” “Still… on this island it’s rare that someone learns of me and does not fear or hate me. And I appreciate you helping to prevent that from happening again. I’m not sure what might have happened if the little ones began to fear me like that.” She looked distant and sad. Varclaw turned to face her. “Well, aren’t you always the one telling us that not all humans are bad? Even Ivria and Chiara came from Avalon humans, and the two that raised them didn’t seem to like what was being done to the other dinos, either.” Jade smiled. “This is true. Go on and eat. Redfeather will probably need your help since it looks like the pack received aid from the carnos.” Varclaw growled again, glaring toward the two large beasts as they took the tail of the iguanodon for themselves and began to carry it off. But he knew Jade was right. Redfeather was still terrified of the larger carnivores, and Varclaw was doing everything he could to not immediately hate the entire species. It had just been an overly aggressive bull rogue. But poor Varclaw and Redfeather saw everything. He sighed. “Yeah… I know.”
He started toward the carcass before pausing again and looking back at the old oviraptor. He wasn’t certain how much more time she truly had left, but now he understood why the pack still valued her. Her stories carried a wisdom with them that helped shape their behavior for the better. Varclaw could all too easily see himself giving in to his hatred after the loss of his father, but if not for Jade’s stories about her own hatred for the Chimeras and her redemption with Ren, he wouldn’t have known how to procceed. And with how terrified his poor little brother got at night, Varclaw wouldn’t know how to comfort Redfeather without Jade’s stories of trying to conquer her pyrophobia with the help of Miraak. “Hey,” he said, “I don’t know if you get this often, but thank you for always teaching us, Jade. We’ll all miss you when you finally go.” Jade smiled warmly at the young novaraptor, and stepped forward to gently bump the end of her beak to the side of his muzzle. “I’m gald these old bones are able to still do some good. No go on, or there won’t be much food left.” The young novaraptor nodded, and hurried over to join the others.
------------------ Jade looked up at the high ledge that she had once called her home. She wasn’t certain she could make that climb anymore without a serious fall, but she still knew every little nook and cranny along the way. She took in a deep breath, and released it, before making her way over to the base of the cliff and curling around the place where she had buried Draco. It was really the only valid gravesite left she had to wait at anymore. Miraak wasn’t dead, after all, and as far as she knew neither was Frieze. Though whatever his titan duties were, they must have kept him insanely busy after the storm all those years ago. And poor Shrike…. She never saw his body, but Ivria did. And were he not all the way back in Avalon territory when he had been found, Jade may have been tempted to return there for her final resting place. But this was good enough. She had no doubt that Shrike would be with his old teacher and the other Chimeras he had grown up with, and Jade was looking forward to finally being able to see her best friend again. It had been far too long. “Has it really been fifty years? Man, time sure does fly these days.”
One feathered hand gently scraped along the grass which had long since grown over the little mound Jade had created when she put Draco to rest. “I’ve really missed you, you know. Your brother, too. I know I was hard on him in the end, and for that I’m sorry. But I was still young and hurt. And really, I’ll be glad to see all of you again. I hope you’ve been taking good care of my son.” Her eyes closed as she lifted her head to catch the last few rays of warmth from the sunset. She was ready. The pack was in good hands, and she was so ready to go. It had been no easy task to outlive so many that she had grown to love and care for, but she had others that she wished to rejoin, and it was well past time for her to go to them. “I hope Delphi and Shrike haven’t been fighting too much, heh. I know they had their rivalries. Though I suppose Ivria was more likely to make him show off, anyway.” Jade slowly laid down her head giving the ground a soft nuzzle as she found a comfortable position. She was sorry she wouldn’t be able to make it to another story session for the little ones. She would have liked to tell them some of the happier, more humorous stories about Toffee and her feather collecting, or Miraak’s proposal, maybe even Genesis’ antics, irritating as they had been at the time. Oh well. It was time for her to go. She wasn’t certain how she knew, but she did. The pack would carry on without her. For one last time, she closed her eyes, and took a deep, comforting breath. As she released it, she thought of all those she had been missing in her life. I’m coming to join you, everyone.