Chapter 2 is (apologies) an origin story, and doesn't have any vore yet, but don't worry, there is some in chapter 3!

Please comment if you have any suggestions or are enjoying anything about the story.


Chapter 2

Jake soared smoothly over the sparkling ocean flashing by distantly below. He made an impressive sight, snowy white plumage contrasting with elegantly curved black wings spanning almost six feet. As a Great Black Backed Gull, he was one of the largest, most intelligent, and aggressive seabirds on the eastern seaboard, and comfortably near the top of the coastal food chain.

Jake was in the return of a hunting mission, tired and ready for a rest. He skimmed leisurely along the shoreline, skillfully riding the thermals coming off the rapidly warming land. The storm last night had kicked up a substantial swell, but it had passed hours ago, and now the sun shone down strongly upon the earth once again. Looking down, Jake could see his shadow passing over the crystalline waters below. He smiled to himself in amusement as small fish darted frantically this way and that as it passed over them. Jake always enjoyed sailing over the craggy cliffs, muddy river deltas, and shining white sand beaches that were his home. This coastline was really a beautiful place. Pine trees dotted the shore, growing more densely packed as they marched farther inland. Every now and then an oak or maple tree was also visible. From his lofty vantage point, Jake could just make out distant mountains, blue, outlined against the rolling green foothills that lay inland. He passed over the end of a sandy beach, and then watched as the rapidly passing ground ascended upwards towards him. The wavy, blue sea sparkled below, crashing up against the tall cliffs in great spumes of spray.

Gazing forward once more, Jake caught sight of the familiar coastline of home, only a few short minutes away. This following breeze was pushing him along quickly. He had come over thirty miles in the last hour with very little effort. Jake had never expected to make such good time on the return trip. Usually the breeze came directly from the ocean, forcing passing seabirds to slant continuously outwards along the shoreline, but today it gusted about listlessly, mostly parallel to shore.

A few minutes passed, and soon the craggy cliffs of home were clearly visible. Seascape Reach was a small place. Confined within a curving, steeply sloped cliff, it was situated just to the west of Brandon island. The reach, although technically not connected to the island was only separated by a hundred-foot strip of shallow, turbulent seawater. The Brandon island gull colony had long claimed control over the reach, but it was not until recently that they had begun to aggressively enforce it. Jake didn’t think much of the inevitable territorial conflicts that would arise from this decision.

Putting the thought out of his head, he quickly scanned the cliff face for his dwelling. More of a cave than a proper nest, the dwelling was small and dark. Although gloomy, it was well protected and was the only place in Seascape Reach he could hope to live in any privacy with the nosy colony officials constantly looking over his back.

Locating a familiar cleft in the cliff face, Jake banked, heading smoothly towards the flat shelf in front of his dwelling. Something did not seem quite right. Blinking, he wondered what had changed. His eyes had passed over the crevice completely before he had been able to locate it. Perhaps he was just distracted. Seconds later, he noticed what it was that was different. The shelf that had extended below his cave had fallen away revealing a sheer smooth cliff face. The red streaky rock was cleanly visible where the break had occurred. Obviously, the old ledge had given out during the storm. Approaching closer, he saw that there was still a small bit of the shelf left to land on. That was a relief.

Alighting skillfully on the small space, Jake folded his wings and poked his head inside the cave. Adjusting to the light, he stepped the rest of the way inside, looking forward to some rest after his long flight. Everything was just the way he left it, even the pile of bones left over from the bird he had eaten several days ago. Just as he was about to glance across the other side of the cave, Jake heard a rustling noise to his left and something clattered in the back of the cave. A few small stones rolled across the floor coming gently to a stop at his feet. He tensed, poising himself for a fight. Perhaps someone wanted to claim this cave for their own. 'They'll be sorry if they try' he thought aggressively. Listening hard for any sign of further motion, he could hear nothing but the gentle sigh of the wind just outside. Surely there was no one there, but peering into the back of the cave he thought he could just glimpse the shape of something small huddled in a niche in the corner of the cave. His eyes had not yet adjusted fully to the dark. Whatever it was, it didn't seem all that threatening.

Deciding that there was little risk to himself, Jake relaxed. Speaking gently, he said

“All right, I know you're there. You can come on out.”

A few more seconds passed in utter silence. Perhaps the thing was afraid of him. Having just eaten, he had no current predatory inclination. Whatever it was was in little danger. But of course, it had no way of knowing that. Just as Jake was about to try again, there was a slight shuffling, and then a head peered tentatively out from its hiding place, a very familiar head. Before he had a chance to say anything else the head ducked fearfully back behind a boulder. Jake paused a moment, carefully planning his next response.

.........

The voice had sounded almost friendly. After seeing who it belonged to, she was not so sure. A few seconds ago, prompted by the soft, reassuring voice she had swallowed her fear and shown herself briefly before the black backed gull that had caught her unsuspecting in his territory. ‘Just come on out’ the voice had urged. Sam knew she shouldn't have listened, but curiosity had gotten the better of her and the predator now knew exactly where she was hidden. She could see his shadow cast on the wall from where she was sitting. Sitting still as a stone she sweated in tense silence that lasted for several moments before he finally spoke again.

Stepping back, the gull said “I won't hurt you. I'll step back, give you plenty of room. See?”

Sam didn’t look. She didn’t believe him. She wouldn’t believe anyone with a 5-foot wingspan and a taste for puffins. Gulls were notoriously untrustworthy, he might try to swallow her whole!

Still attempting to gain her confidence, he continued.
“I'm Jake by the way. My friends used to call me ‘lucky’ but that's just a nickname. I never thought it was especially fitting. What's your name?”

That voice didn’t sound threatening. Feeling slightly bolder at Jake's friendly confidence, Sam replied
“S..Samantha... but I prefer Sam.”

“That's a nice name, Sam. I'd like to meet you. Do you think you might try coming out soon?”

“I'd rather not if that's okay. I'm still a bit...”

Her words trailed off. She didn't want the gull to know just how scared of him she was. There wasn’t much other choice at this point anyways. Continuing she said

“If I come out, you won't"- she took a deep breath “won't k..kill me?”

“Don't worry. Really, I won't hurt you, I promise. I just want to see who I'm talking to. It doesn't feel right speaking to thin air like this. If you don't like what you see you can always hide again, right?”

Sam caught herself smiling. "Well yeah, I suppose. It does seem somewhat silly though. You already know I'm here.” She paused for a moment.

“You're not going to eat me or anything are you?”

"Of course not! I already promised I wouldn't hurt you, didn't I? Besides, I just ate. I'm not even hungry right now."

After a few moments of silence, he continued.

“So will you come out then?”

“If...if y..you take a step back, I might.”

"Another one?! I'm already across the room!"

Realizing that the gull was a lot farther away than she had thought, Sam willed herself onwards, stepping tentatively out into the sunlight streaming through the cave entrance. Perhaps by talking she could gain some time to think through this predicament. Curiously enough, the gull had shown little interest in eating her. There was something strangely endearing about his casual charismatic nature. Still, he was a predator. She had been told her entire life to never trust a gull. No matter what they say, all they really want is to get you in their belly.

As she stepped out into the sun, Sam glanced upwards getting her first good look at Jake's imposing form. She was definitely having regrets now! He was much, much bigger than her. Literally towering over her, he was easily large enough to take her as prey. The sight of his wickedly curved beak and steely golden eyes sent a chill of fear through her, conjuring up what the skua’s similar beak had been able to do to her. She stiffened, afraid to make eye contact and cast her eyes down upon the floor.

Eyeing her inquisitively, Jake stepped closer to get a better view.

"G...g...get back! s...stay away... p...please don't..." She stammered, her words faltering as she tripped backwards in a rush of fear.

“I'm not going to eat you if that's what your worried about.”

Grinning wryly, he confidently continued.

“I'm just your average neighborhood seagull- nothing to worry about here!”

‘That's clearly not the case’ Sam thought, but she avoided voicing her opinion. Now was not a good time for such thoughts.

In the moment of silence that passed, Jake cocked his head, eyeing Sam more closely. He stalked in a circle around her, careful to keep his distance.

“You’re hurt” he observed.

It was painfully obvious: her feathers were dirty, disarrayed, and caked in blood. Her right wing was twisted at an unnatural angle and dragged lifelessly behind her. Sam was aware that if Jake was inclined to eat her, she’d make a pitifully easy meal.

Stalling for time, she told him about her ordeal the previous night with the skua. Anything to try and distract him. Jake listened attentively the whole time. As her story grew to a close, she noticed with apprehension that he was slowly edging closer to her.

“That's quite a story!"” he said.

“It must have been terrible.”

“It was” she replied.

“My wing is...” Her words trailed off once again. Sam realized fully that she had no hope of flying, but she didn't want to tell the gull that.

“I might be able to help you.”

Sam tensed in surprise. That was not what she was expecting.

“If I can get a close look at that wing, I might be able to fix it, or at least make some of the pain go away.”

He took another step towards her.

“No, d... don’t come closer! I... I’m fine I don't need any help!” Sam pleaded, desperately trying to stop Jake's advance. He was already uncomfortably close to her.

“Don’t worry” he said, clearly trying to be reassuring.

It wasn’t working. Cringing away, Sam tripped, wincing in pain as her wing twisted unnaturally under her. Closing her eyes in fear she braced herself for the inevitable pain as the gull lunged for her. An instant passed, and then she was entirely encompassed in soft feathers. Completely surprised, she found herself tumbled into an unexpected embrace, and all the fears and pain of the past day melting away. For the first time, she felt safe and warm. Sam had not realized just how badly she had needed contact with someone else. She felt a surge of mixed emotions and confusion at Jake's kindness. It went against everything she had ever been taught as a puffin.

Jake gently eased his hug and stepped back to give Sam some breathing room. Hopefully she had not been horrified by being so close to him. Sam carefully lifted herself off the ground and then gazed shyly up at him. For the first time, she made eye contact.

“Do you really think you can help me?” She asked, gazing up at him with a just a hint of her former fear.

“I think so... I've never really done anything like this, before. I won't do it if you don't want me to.”

Sam thought about it for a while and then said

“Okay, I trust you. Go ahead.”

She was sure she didn't trust him, but so far Jake had not in any way harmed her. His cruelly curved bill was only inches away from her now. It was hard not to be fearful this close to a predator, but Jake did seem to be trying to be non-threatening. She was still hesitant to make eye contact, even though she had held Jake's fierce gaze for a few seconds. She had to admit there was a certain likeability about him, but instinctual terror was hard to ignore.

“This might be scary, so you can close your eyes if you want. I'll be as quick as possible. It'll only hurt for a moment.”

“It's alright. Just...Just make it quick and get it over with.”

Sam caught a quick glimpse of the inside of Jake's mouth as he gaped his bill and clamped gently down on her wing just above the wound. She could feel the trembling warmth of his tongue on her feathers and the light pressure of his jaws as he gently gripped her.

“Ready?” He asked, the words coming out slightly muffled because of the feathers in his mouth.

Sam swallowed hard, finding it hard to believe she was really letting him do this.

“Y... Yeah, go ahead.”

With a flick of the neck, Jake quickly twisted her wing back into place. There was a quick stab of pain and a slight pop, and then some of the dull pain lessened. He released his grip and stepped back.

Sam gazed at him wonderingly. “How did you do that?”

“So, it feels better then?”

“Much better. The pain at the shoulder is gone!”

“The joint was dislocated. I just popped it back into place.”

“How did you know that was the problem?”

Jake laughed. "When you've eaten as many different things as me, you start to learn your biology."

"But gulls mostly swallow their prey, don't they? How could you learn anything from that?"

"Some things are too big to swallow, so you have to pull them apart” he said.

Sam flinched, feeling uncomfortable at the idea of that beak pulling some innocent creature apart. At least being swallowed wouldn’t be so bloody. Jake had the good grace to change the subject however, likely sensing this topic would be uncomfortable for someone who could be considered his “prey.”

“You shouldn't try to fly any time soon. That bone is probably broken, and that skua tried to swallow a chunk of your wing. Only time can fix that.”

“I know” Sam sighed. The thought of being grounded here for weeks was not an appealing one. Very few birds that break their wings ever make it long enough to see them healed. It would take a great deal of help to survive until her wing healed itself. Pondering on the future, a great many thoughts worked their way through Sam's mind.

“Jake”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Gulls eat puffins. If I’m food, why are you helping me? I don't see anything in it for you at all.”

“I don't see you as food, Sam. You’re a person, just like anyone else.”

Sam wasn’t sure she bought it, but she played along, feeling a little less afraid now that he had helped her.

“Okay, but that doesn't answer my question. Why do you want to help me?”

“I can tell you why, but you may not believe what you hear.”

“I’ll listen, I want to know.”

Jake sighed gently.

“Alright, here goes. This is going to be a bit long.”

Pausing for breath he continued.

“When I was just a chick, my parents abandoned me. They had nested on Eastern Egg Rock, near the puffin colony that is located there. When conservationist humans started eliminating the gull population to revive the endangered puffin colony, most of the resident gulls left, flying off to safer and more sustaining islands. Fearing for their own safety, my parents were among those who left. They flew away, leaving me behind to fend for myself. Wandering, lost and alone, I would surly have died quickly if I had not been found and taken in by a puffin. As a newly born hatchling at the time, I remember nothing of my parents or the first few months that followed their departure. The puffin raised me as her own chick, feeding and protecting me until I was strong enough to survive on my own. Mom always used to say how she had been surprised by my appetite.

As I grew up, I became ever more conspicuous to the other members if the colony. The colony elders, became more and more anxious as it became apparent that I was growing into a fully-fledged gull. There were two landmark incidents that I remember vividly, and looking back now, they’re the reasons I left the island.

As the colony population began to return to healthy numbers, the conservationists began to check their intervention and allow nature to regain its normal course. Seeing that the colony was well on its way to becoming a thriving and healthy community, the researchers eventually left, leaving the island to its natural fate. Only a few weeks later, the gulls came back. This was the first time I had experienced the concept of predation and at the time I was only a young hatchling, not yet fledged. I was just as vulnerable (if a bit larger) as all the other young puffins in the colony. The gulls came, stealing and eating eggs, chicks, and adults, and they didn’t leave until they’d had their fill. The terror and pandemonium that struck the colony was shocking and devastating. In the end, I saw many puffins brutally swallowed alive and could never be that innocently unaware again. That was the day that my mother told me I was different. I had already sort of figured it out for myself, it doesn’t take a genius. I still cried when she told me, realizing I could grow up to become a monster like the gulls that killed my friends. As the reality of it sunk in, I swore I would never let myself become that.

The second incident happened mere days before my first flight. As I grew older, and ventured from the burrow more frequently, I began to meet many others my age. I was obviously different from them, and they teased me endlessly for it. Mom always urged me not to get into fights, warning me of my own strength and urging me not to attract the attention of the council. Gulls however, are naturally aggressive, and one day, one of my antagonists went too far and I nipped them. Not realizing my own strength, I injured him easily, despite the fact that I had only intended to scare him and the others enough to let me alone.

The elders banished me from the island after that, despite my mother’s protest, ruling that I should never return to Egg Rock during my lifetime. I haven’t been back since.

In the four years that followed, I matured from a fledgling to a fully-grown adult. I became part of a flock, learned the cultural identity of the black back, and gained the skills I needed to survive from them. I felt it was a life that suits me better than the life I had before. I fit in for the first time. As I grew older, I found that my childhood vow was becoming more difficult to keep, especially around other gulls, but I remembered. Still to this day, my conviction that I would never harm another puffin holds true.”

Sam didn’t answer immediately. She needed time to let the narrative sink in. What a story is was! She had no idea if it was true, but it would account for Jake's familiar way of speaking. The only times she had heard gulls speak they had sounded harsh and raucous. Yet there was something smooth and un-gull like in Jake's voice now that she thought about it, something that reminded her of home.

“I...” At a loss for words, Sam looked up at Jake, forcing herself to look straight into his golden eyes. She saw no deceit, but rather a longing reminiscence. The look passed quickly, and Jake smiled.

“Not a bad story huh? Now you know why I helped you. I see you as a person Sam, I know your pain is real. I feel for what you’ve been through, experiencing it firsthand myself.”

Taken aback, Sam sat in silence for a moment, overwhelmed by the strange events of the last few hours.

Jake stretched, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He gazed restlessly towards the cave entrance. Turning back to Sam, he said “I’ve gotten hungry. Want something to eat?”