Sharkkat25

Current Rank: Dragon Rider Total Submissions: 14 ------------- -Dragon Rider- Complete! ----- 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 -Island Explorer- [In Progress!] 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - -Archipelago Adventurer- [Not Yet Reached] -Dragon Gaurdsman- [Not Yet Reached] -Dragon Guard Veteran- [Not Yet Reached] -Dragon Commander- [Not Yet Reached] -Dragon Elite- [Not Yet Reached]

Writing Word Count: 1,532 Warning: There is some minor gore in this, a depiction of what radiation can do to the body if irradiated things are ingested consistently. So yeah, it's not pretty. Character Featured: Rift --- Desperate times always lead to desperate measures, a fact Rift knew as a painful truth and unfortunately it was now one of those times. He had no intention of leaving the eastern forests but prey had dropped substantially in number as of late, the common herds of plant eaters had moved on earlier than usual and while he was more concerned with his empty stomach it still made his scales prickle with a deep seeded anxiety. Not much got herds to move on early, in fact he couldn't think of anything that could commit such a feat and he doubted the existence of this 'sickness' which he had heard of through passing chatter from flyers. Forbidden lands, please, he wouldn't be scared off from his home by the warnings and warbles of some overgrown birds. A snort escaped him as he shook his head, choosing not to dwell on the thought as he pushed forward and towards the sound of rushing water. The waterfalls always held some kind of prey, whether it be fish or dinosaur. There was more often than not food present by the rushing water and he was betting on that fact. He quickened his pace as the sound of crashing water grew closer, only halting once he reached the tree line just before the river and the nearby falls. His gaze narrowed and he lifted his head, inhaling deeply a few times and a smirk quickly formed on the raptor's snout. Food. He had noted the scent of fresh flesh, not far from the water- just across the river it seemed. A perfect solution to his hunger problems, almost too perfect but he didn't bother to consider the risks before trekking onwards. He stalked out from the tree line with confidence, a confidence that quickly faltered as he noted something. It was silent. Dead silent. Minus the rushing water there was nothing, no bird song, no buzz of insects, nothing. It was painfully silent and it put Rift on edge as he halted at the water's edge, toe claws tapping down into the sand anxiously while he surveyed the area- head on a swivel as he took in his surroundings further, the forests seemed normal and so did the waters. The sand-dirt banks of the river were mostly undisturbed, the water still ran clear for the most part but it was painfully empty in terms of life. The surrounding plants swayed slightly in the breeze that had picked up but aside from that there was nothing else in terms of life. Though soon movement caught his eye, to the side of him he noted a small songbird now hopping out into the sunlight from its tree branch perch. His body relaxed instinctively. See? Life! There isn't any sickness- stupid- Rift's internal monologue of victory was cut short as he watched the small bird take flight only to plummet to the ground moments after, hitting the dirt below with a high pitched cry as it notably spasmed then went still. The utahraptor quickly stepped back, the bird was several tail lengths away still but that was more than enough to unsettle him. He took a moment to breathe, no, no, there wasn't any mystery sickness here- there wasn't. He shook his head rapidly before forcing himself to continue on, turning back to the river and backing up before getting a running start, launching himself over the narrowest part of the rushing water with ease. His landing was somewhat messy though, he fell forward and just barely managed to avoid touching the rushing waters as he righted himself once again. Rift shook himself, tail flicking before he continued into the forest. He was still following the scent of meat, jaws slightly parted as he walked and he was pausing every now and again to reorient himself. He moved through the foliage of the forest easily, brushing ferns and bushes aside while ducking under the occasional low hanging branch. He was keeping a good pace but internally things weren't sitting quite right, that bird wasn't quite right. He had seen sick birds and they had never just fallen out of the sky like that, it had shaken him rather notably despite there being no outward tells. After all he was still very determined to get something to ease the ache in his stomach. His nose brought him to another section of the falls, bigger than the small one which he had gone past earlier. Again it seemed devoid of life minus the rushing water and plant life, but not a total loss considering Rift's gaze quickly locked onto the unmoving form of a dead Parasaur. Jackpot. Impulsively he ran forward, making a break for the corpse before halting a mere tail length from it and he froze entirely in horror. He expected wounds from another carnivore, probably a carnotaurus or maybe a suchomimus but it was neither. The injuries the parasaur had were… unnatural. They looked almost like rotting, the herbivore's stomach looking as if it had been rotted from the inside out, internal organs were hole ridden and some black with necrosis, as if torn open by some invisible killer. The utahraptor gulped slightly, stepping away to slowly circle the corpse only to pause and stare in abject horror yet again. The hadrosaur's neck was in a similar state and its jaw hung off of the skull, attached by small strands of muscle that remained. It was a gut wrenching sight and Rift quickly backed away, resisting the urge to vomit- he was used to carrion yeah bit there was something ungodly unnatural about these wounds. His body shuddered with a notable sense of fear and dread as he turned away from the carcass which he knew better than to eat from. He paused at the water, stepping over to the bank only to recoil again at witnessing and more so now smelling dead fish. He sneered, rearing back at the stench which reeked from a series of fish corpses which had gotten caught on the other side of the riverbed. This meant one thing in his mind, the falls were toxic. The water was toxic and he was wrong about this place… his home. The flyers were right it seemed, and Rift hated that fact, he hated being wrong. He was quick to move away from the rushing waters now as well. The land was poisoned, or at least the water was. He felt himself stop, in fact the whole world seemed to stop for a moment as he let the fact set in, his home was now toxic, unlivable, the only land he had known was now tarnished… and what of him? Was he sick too? Would he succumb to whatever that parasaur had? Torn apart by an unseen monster? No. No. He wouldn't let that happen, he couldn't let that happen. He shook himself, letting out a quiet hiss before he turned to head back into the forest. His purple tinted scales disappearing into the surrounding underbrush, his retractable toe claws clicking anxiously with every step. The raptor's mind was racing with fears and anxieties he had rarely let surface but now, now it was all unraveling. He was alone, he had always been a lone runner and now it would be more of a detriment than ever- he would have to find a new home away from the forest, a new territory but what if he couldn't? What if it was already too late for him? He felt his breath quicken as he now quickened his pace through the stretch of forest between the two falls, he felt panicked, fear wasn't something he let get to him if he could help it but… now it was too real to not let it run rampant. Everything was changing now, he would have to leave everything to survive lest he end up like the Parasaur and succumb to this unknown sickness. The idea of change was horrifying but dying like that was objectively worse and struck something deep in the young raptor. No. He wouldn't end up like that. His previous worries on food were far, far from his mind as he raced, slowing once he reached the smaller waterfall and river. Violet eyes flicked to stare at the bird on the other bank, the small lifeless form which he watched die earlier. He wouldn't die like that, he would survive, he had too. So he took a deep breath, backing up and quickly leaping across the river again before he continued on. Leaving hurriedly from this sickened place, something in his instincts told him speed was the key to remaining in decent health so that's what he did. Following paths he had known for quite some time he fled the forbidden zone, with no intent of ever returning as he dodged past bushes and dense brambles, weaving through plantlife with practiced ease. The past would be left here to rot with those who succumbed, and he would not be amongst those corpses. He could adapt, he could survive. No matter the cost he would succeed, no matter what desperate measures were to be taken, he would live.