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There was a small fact about Ryzar that most people didn't know. He could understand animals.
Well, some of them.
Being a dinosaur hybrid came with it's perks. A strong tail, immense strength, sharp claws and teeth, great vision and fast reaction speeds. But it also brought along other traits that some people may not consider to be as useful. Such as a massive appetite, and of course, the ability to understand his own species.
Now, you may be asking, what do you mean by that? Dinosaurs went extinct billions of years ago, there's no other dinosaurs for him to talk to! And while that is true, dinosaurs still technically live on in the DNA of modern day creatures, such as crocodiles, lizards, sea turtles and such.
The architects first discovered this ability when they had pitted him against a saltwater crocodile. They were pretty perplexed when they hadn't fought at all, instead they seemed to be peacefully talking to eachother about what sort of meat tasted the best (Ryzar tried convincing the crocodile that barbecued meat was great, to which the crocodile refused). And while they hadn't gotten the data that they wanted, they got new info they thought they could use to their advantage.
Unfortunately, Ryzar wasn't very interested in trying to convince the animals that they brought to him to become war machines for the military, instead finding pleasure in simply chatting with them or playing with them. One time, he even got a komodo dragon they brough in to raid the laboratory canteen and bring him some snacks. That brought an end to the architects' hopes of creating a massive wildlife army, and thus they scrapped that part of the project.
Ever since then, they stopped bringing him reptiles to fight in a fear that he'd use his ability to start an uprising against the architects (they really overestimated him, he was not smart enough to come up with a plan like that). So he never really had a chance to use that ability until after he broke out.
Because along with crocodiles and lizards, birds also evolved from dinosaurs. And there were a couple of birds that he regularly talked to.
"Hey, Ryzar!" Gale greeted him as he saw him walk onto the deck, "What are you doing here? I thought you and your boys would've been busy fixing up Nayuta's ship?". On his shoulder, Pip visibly brightened up at the sight of the dino-man.
"Nix said it would be better if I didn't join in with them," Ryzar shrugged to him, "Something about how 'I don't have the skills to help' or something". In all honesty, what actually happened was that Ryzar accidentally broke one of the communication devices while trying to help and Nix softly told him not to get involved in case he broke another one, but Ryzar either didn't want to tell him or forgot to tell him about it.
Ryzar eyed the wooden planks that Gale carried under one arm, and then at the pipsqueaks carrying multiple woodworking tools with them, "What are you doing? Building something?".
"Huh? Oh- No, we're just umm- doing repairs. Nothing important" Gale replied, waving the issue off.
Pip flew up from Gale's shoulder and onto Ryzar's, nuzzling her beak into his face. "Hey, Pip! Nice to see you too, buddy!" Ryzar grinned to her, softly scritching her chin.
Gale let out a soft chuckle at the scene, "Pip's really taken a liking to you. I kinda feel like she likes you better than me".
"Oh, I'm sure she likes you! Right, Pip?", Ryzar looked towards the parrot on his shoulder, but instead of chirping out an answer like she usually did, she simply glared at Gale. Ryzar noticed this, but decided to simply lie to Gale instead, "See! She likes you!".
"Whatever you say," Gale chuckled to him, "You two can sit and chat or whatever you do while me and the pipsqueaks go fix up the ship, alright?".
"Aye aye, Captain!" Ryzar saluted to him before Gale walked away, helping a couple pipsqueaks carry what looked like a handsaw. He looked towards the parrot on his shoulder, "You don't think it's weird when I say that, right?".
Pip chirped out a response to him, she didn't find it weird. In fact, she found it cute and endearing. "Aww, thanks Pip!!" he grinned to her.
He sat down on a nearby crate and fetched a couple of nuts and seeds from his pocket. "I got these from the shop for you!" he smiled to her, "They didn't have your favourites though, so I got your second favourite!". Pip's eyes immediately brightened up, and she squawked out a 'Thank you!' before immediately digging in.
Ryzar smiled at her, then glanced back at the pipsqueaks bringing down multiple planks below deck. "So, what are the repairs for?" he asked Pip, "Gale didn't explain to me what happened".
Pip paused in the middle of snacking to chirp out a response. "Really? A hole in the hull?!" he gasped. Pip nodded and continued to squawk to him. Ryzar nodded along as he listened to her, "Huh, I didn't know the pipsqueaks were allowed to use the cannons".
Pip shook her head. They weren't, but one of them decided to and it backfired heavily. "Man, that sucks," he sighed, "Is it hard having to repair the ship. I mean, you guys are really small. I don't know if you can carry hammers easily".
She let out an offended squawk and pecked his hand in retaliance. "Ouch! I didn't mean to be rude!" he yelped, "I was just asking a question!". Pip glared at him for a few seconds, but eventually apologised, nuzzling his hand with her beak. "Geez, you're so mean sometimes," Ryzar chuckled.
A loud shout came from the deck below, along with a few either enraged or scared squawks. Must've been Gale and the pipsqueaks.
"So, has anything happened since I last visited?" Ryzar asked Pip. The bird thought for a few moments, before chirping a reply to him. "Well, Zander visits Gale all of the time, I don't know what's important about that," Ryzar replied to her.
She shook her head and continued squawking to him, and a look of realisation slowly hit Ryzar. "Oh! Oh they were- oh!" he gasped. Pip nodded to him as a blush came on Ryzar's face, "They must've been pretty loud if you and the pipsqueaks heard it, huh".
Pip sighed and nodded, an almost pitiful look on her face. "Well, I knew they were close. So it's not a surprise they're... that close, I guess..." Ryzar said, face still flushed. Pip squawked at him with a tinge of anger in her voice. "Hey, I think Zander's nice! He may be a demon, but he's a nice one at least!" he told her, "There's probably worse people out there that Gale could date!".
Pip glared at him for a moment and chirped at him. It must've been something that caught his attention, cause Ryzar's eyes widened in surprise at her words, "Z-Zander said what about me?".
Pip continued squawking and chirping, wings flying around wildly. The flush on Ryzar's face deepened at her words, blinking in surprise at her, "Oh wow, I- I didn't think he- huh".
Pip sighed and shivered a little at the memory, before they heard a sudden crash from underneath them. Gale finally reappeared from below deck, a few scratches on his face and body. "Don't mind me, just... getting some new hammers," he told them, wiping some dust off his face. He noticed the blush on Ryzar's face and raised a brow, "So, what were you two talking about?"
Ryzar and Pip both glanced at eachother and silently agreed that they were not going to tell him.
"Taxes!" Ryzar suddenly shouted out, and Pip looked at him stunned, before quickly nodding in agreement with him.
"Huh, I didn't think either of you would've been smart enough to know what those are!" Gale chuckled. He soon disappeared back into his cabin, and Ryzar looked back at Pip.
"I don't think you're that dumb," he told her. Pip smiled back up at him and nuzzled into his hand. Ryzar let out a small chuckle, "Alright, I'll get you more seeds the next time I visit! And this time, Ill get you the ones you like".