Chapter Two: Morning Hunt
The morning’s sunlight shone through the cave opening, washing over the old Deinonychus’s sleeping form. She blinked her brown eyes at the light, letting out a small, annoyed growl. She stepped out of her nest, arching her back and stretching out her hind legs. With a shake of her blood red feathers, the female stalked to the outside. With the morning light shining into her eyes, she was wide-awake. Now she may as well use the time wisely and that would be to get in an early morning hunt. When she turned to the side, the white of her egg caused the elderly Deinonychus to frown.
“I still don’t understand why I haven’t crushed it yet,” the mother muttered under her breath, brown eyes glaring at the egg. With a small shake of her head, the predator began her way into the desert landscape. She had no need to check up on the Velociraptor family. Today, hopefully, she would be able to find a few large lizards basking in the sun’s rays or maybe even a borrowing rodent soaking in the gentle heat of the early morning. Maybe, if she felt generous enough, she would bring back a meal for the little raptor family.
As she stalked the dry earth, Blood Stone continued to sniff the air and scan the land for any signs or scent of prey. After a time walking the land, the elderly female came across what she was looking for. Though it was a bit smaller than she liked, it would still sustain her for the day. A pale gray lizard about twice the size of her head, basked in the sun’s earlier rays, its head held to the sky and dark eyes closed.
Slowly, the blood red raptor approached the large lizard. Making no sound, she lunged. Her teeth sliced through its soft gray, scaly hide. It thrashed around between her jaws as she held on tight. There was no way she would lose this meal. Applying pressure, Blood Stone crushed the lizard’s ribcage, killing it.
Dropping her fresh kill to the ground, the Deinonychus placed a clawed foot onto it. Keeping it still on the ground, she ripped into her prey, savoring the juicy, metallic taste of raw meat. Within a few minutes, the large lizard was completely gone, only its blood staining the ground to tell of its life moments ago.
Blood Stone sat where she had just killed her meal. With her hunger panes gone, for now, the blood red Deinonychus began her daily, morning preen. Just as she finished cleaning, Blood Stone heard soft footsteps behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, the elderly female was surprise to see a pack of six Deinonychus. All were similar in color. Pale gray with darker gray stripes running horizontally from the back of their heads to only a few inches from their tail tips and lighter throats, stomachs and underneath their tails. They all also possessed orange eyes and the same feathered bodies as she had, their decorative feathers the same dark gray as their stripes.
As the elderly female took in their appearance more, she narrowed her eyes. They seemed in similar look to her mate. The pack possessed the same design on their bodies and were only a few shades darker than his gray form. They did, however, have orange eyes, unlike her deceased blue-eyed mate.
The seemingly leader of the group, the largest male, walked up to Blood Stone. She gave him a slow blink of her brown eyes. “You want?”
The large male did not answer right away, only gazing over the blood red female before his orange eyes stared at the blood stained ground at her clawed hands.
“Well?” Blood Stone questioned, standing up to her full height. This male was, of course, taller than she, but only by a few inches. He stared her down, still not staying a word. Annoyed by the silent male, Blood Stone gave a huff. She glanced over the gray male’s shoulder, sniffing the air as she gathered information about his pack.
As she thought, they were all related. Siblings, most likely from the same clutch. Three female and three males, all just having entered adulthood around a cold time ago. Two of the females sniffed around where Blood Stone had killed the lizard. When they stopped near a stone, they glanced at each other. The slightly smaller female straighten up, looking over at her leader.
“Dark Fang,” the female spoke up. “I found a nest of eggs.”
The large male turned to the female. “Dig it up, Little Claw.”
The small female gave a huff. Leaning down, she and her sister began to dig with their clawed hands. Soft dirt flew in the sky as they dug through the hidden mound. After a moment more of digging, the females backed away from the freshly dug out eggs, letting their leader have the first.
Dark Fang sniffed at the soft dirt the eggs lay in before taking two into his jaws. Closing his mouth over them, crushing them within his jaws as he pressed his tongue against the roof of him mouth. He swallowed, licking his lips at the egg yolk that dripped over his jaws. The pale gray male watched his siblings feast on the lizard eggs. They were not enough to fill them, but as the mother lizard was to Blood Stone, they dulled their hunger pains.
“Is there any reason you are here, young one?” Blood Stone questioned from her spot on the ground.
Dark Fang stared at the blood red female before looking to the sun, which would soon be at its high, morning peak. “No.”
The female gave a small grunt in reply. This male did not seem much of a talker. She then turned her gaze to the smallest sibling of the pack, Little Claw. The pale gray female had her gaze set out the horizon, thoughts clearly running through her head as her bright orange eyes gazed outward. She sniffed the air, frowning at the scent she caught. She paused, waiting for something. It came, a roar echoed in the distance.
Blood Stone narrowed her brown eyes at the little female before glancing back at Dark Fang. Their name’s seemed oddly familiar as she stared at both of them. The elderly female did not say anything to the pack, watching as Little Claw turned to her brother. “We should go. I think that was Death Stalker.” She then gave a disappointed sigh. “To bad. I was hoping to hunt done one of those Oviraptors. The blue male looked extremely tasty.”
“What is with your liking the color of blue?” The larger female beside her retorted. “Any time you see a blue Flattooth in a heard we’re stalking, you always want to kill it.”
“Hey! I’m sorry that blue is my favorite color. It looks very tasty on our food.”
The larger female rolled her orange eyes at Little Claw. “It makes me depressed. It’s a disgusting color on our food. I’ve barely seen any blue ones, their always green, gray, or brown. Blue, it’s just too…weird.”
Blood Stone blinked at the two, young female Deinonychus conversation before turning to the leader of the pack. “Dark Fang,” the blood red female stared. The pale gray male turned to her, frowning. “Who is this Death Stalker?”
“You never heard of him!” Little Claw spoke up, hearing the elderly female’s question.
“No. Should’ve I?”
Before the pale gray female could answer, Dark Fang shot her a harsh glare. She closed her mouth, ducking her head at the large male before backing off. There was no way she would tussle with her brother, the first hatched of their clutch. Seeing as Little Claw had backed off and would not interrupt the conversation again, he turned back to Blood Stone. “Death Stalker is a dark green Tyrannosaurus Rex. He is massive, even for his own kind. At a young age, he was an excellent hunter, killing adolescences almost twice his size. The story now a days is that he has begun to kill the larger plant eaters, who are able to defend themselves, like Longnecks and Threehorns. I’ve heard other rumors that he is starting to take two or more at a time since one is not enough of a challenge.”
Another roar echoed over the desert landscape, causing Dark Fang to glance over his shoulder at the noise. He nodded. “That is definitely him.” As the young male said this, a shadowy figure appeared in the distance. It gave another ferocious roar, clearly throwing its head back to announce its presence to any herbivores nearby. Death Stalker was too far away to notice the seven Deinonychus. His dark green scales shown in the light of early day, red eyes glowing with such malice, even in the sunlight. He sniffed the air before continuing his walk westward.
“These rumors I believe are true,” Dark Fang continued. “I personally saw him take down a Triceratops pair. He did not receiving nothing but a few small scratches. I’ve also heard a story about him taking down a small Longneck heard. Of what species, I don’t know.” Dark Fang shook his head, orange eyes still locked on the tyrant stalking the dry earth.
“There are now stories about him going after other, larger carnivores. He wants to start making his way to the largest rivers to hunt one of the largest beast known.”
“Spinosaurus,” Blood Stone muttered.
“Yes, the fish eaters and the biggest of known carnivores. Death Stalker wants to have a brawl with a strong male no doubt. He would love to kill one. The only reason he hasn’t left sooner is the fear that his favorite food source, Longnecks, will not be where Spinosaurus live.”
“He’s known as Sharptooth to the Flatteeth,” Little Claw blurted out before covering her mouth with her clawed hands as her brother sent another harsh glare her way.
“And you know that how?” Blood Stone questioned, finally standing up from her crouched positon on the hard, dried ground. “Most predators believe our food sources is stupid, bumbling creatures, let alone able to speak. How would you understand them?”
“I don’t,” Little Claw chirped. “But I heard it from a little Bambiraptor a few days back.”
“And it understood Flattooth?”
“Uh-huh. He said that his family, since they eat furry things and little lizards, that they spend their time trying to understand Flatteeth.”
Bloodstone gave a slow blink at the annoying little female, tiring of her chatter. Without a good bye, the blood red female turned and sprinted away from the pack. She had enough of them. She had gathered enough information and did not want any more attention from them.
The small, pale gray female watched the fading form of Blood Stone, dumbfounded. After she had told her about the Flattooth speaking Bambiraptors, she left.
Hours passed as Blood Stone continued to stalk the dry, desert land. She had no need to go back to her nesting place. She did not want to see her egg, though, she doubt it was alive anymore, having laid on the cold, stone ground of the cave overnight. Now, she was looking for her late afternoon meal, her hunger pain finally coming back. If she found something large enough, she would bring it back to the Velociraptors, who, no doubt, have not moved away from their nest. They were scared for their remaining eggs and would not miss when their first clutch hatched.
Just as Blood Stone passed a rocky cliff, a squawk sounded from above. The Deinonychus looked up to see a pair of nesting Pteranodons. One brown, the other blue. The elderly female could not help of smile at the sight of the nesting pair. It appeared that the Velociraptors would be getting a meal after all. If she could killed one of them, there would be enough meat for all of them.
“Everything seems to be related to eggs lately,” the red predator muttered to herself as she took a step back, hiding herself within the shadows of a few nearby boulders. She sniffed the air as she watched the Pteranodon pair. As she thought, one male and one female with their clutch of eggs. The pair had about five eggs with in the makeshift nest of branches, dry plant matter and feathers.
Now Blood Stone would have to patiently wait until one of them flew out of the nest. In the daytime, when a pair had eggs or flightless hatchlings, one of the adults would look for food while the other guarded the nest. It would not be long before one of the two Pteranodons would take flight in search of their next meal.
What the raptor found interesting was that they were nested here of all places. There was no body of water what so ever in sight. These large flying creatures would have to fly some distance in search of water that contained fish. Was it possible that their first nesting area was too crowed? Blood Stone had witness crowed nesting areas before with Flyers. Maybe they thought this was a safer place to raise their children. If they did, herbivores were quite stupid, as the elderly female always thought.
Blood Stone shook her head, clearing her thoughts about the two Pteranodons. Now was not the time to ponder these Flyers’ decisions in life. She had to wait for one of them to fly out of the nest and hope that they would swoop low. If not, then she would not have her meal, or anything for the smaller pair of predators living next to her.
The elderly Deinonychus waited for a long hour, listening to the pair squawk at one another in conversation. Now was one of the few moments that the female wished that she understood their language. Not only would she be able to know what they would do next, but she would also be spared from this incredible boredom. At moments, she thought of leaving, but then her hunger brought her mind back to the large piece of meat she would have if she succeeded in this hunt.
The sudden flap of massive wings brought Blood Stone’s attention back to the Flyers. She looked up to see the brown Pteranodon, the male, leaving the nest. He hung, suspended in mid-air for a moment, giving his mate a good-bye squawk before swooping downwards towards the ground to gain momentum for his high search flight in the sky.
Seeing as the brown Flyer was diving downwards, Blood Stone crouched behind her hiding place. Just as the brown male was right above her, she leaped. The red raptor’s sharp teeth ripped through the fragile wing membranes of his right wing. Almost instantly, he was brought down to the dry, dusty desert ground. The male cried out in pain, withering on the ground as the Deinonychus stood over him.
The sudden, rage filled shriek of his blue mate filled the air. He watched as she dived for the predator standing over him. The blood female just missed the raptor as Blood Stone ducked out of the way, letting out a threating hiss. “Stupid Flyer. Your mate is a goner. He cannot fly anymore. He will die within a matter of days now. Let me have him.”
The red feather carnivore knew it was pointless to call out to the fish eater. Even if they ate meat of the waters, they, for some reason, had not taken on the language of the carnivores. The blue female dived for Blood Stone’s head once more. This time, the predator leaped out, snapping her jaws at the Flyer’s wing.
A squawk from the wounded male prevent the female from taking another dive at the carnivore. The blue female stared at him, disbelief reflecting in her dark brown eyes. How could he say that? How could he expect her to just leave him to the teeth of this bloodthirsty beast?
He gave another call to her, crawling away from the distracted Blood Stone as she watched the blue female with curious brown eyes. Hearing the noise of the struggling male, the carnivorous female glanced back at him before looking back up at the female. The brown Flyer would not make it with his bloody, torn wing. At the moment, Blood Stone was worried about the brown Flyer’s vengeful mate.
The female Pteranodon narrowed her dark brown eyes at the predator before her, but landed in her nest. Her mate was right. He would not survive his wounds and if she would die, their children would not make it. She had to survive for their children, but, when they were old enough, she would search for this predator and kill her. The blue female stared back at her mate, giving him a sorrowful cry before turning away, almost giving Blood Stone the acceptance to kill her beloved.
The elderly Deinonychus just watched her for a long moment before turning back to the brown form of the dying male Pteranodon. She slowly approached him. He just watched her with fearful, dark brown eyes. At least he was smart enough to not struggle, knowing his life would end here.
Placing a clawed foot on the male’s back, Blood Stone leaned down, jaws grasping onto his neck. With one swift movement, she bit down, crushing his neck. Releasing it, the feathered predator stared at her handy work. With a glanced over her shoulder at the sobbing blue flyer, she picked up the now dead, brown male by his neck, dragging him back to her cave. There was defiantly enough meat for her and the two small raptors.
Lizard: OC
Pack of six Deinonychus: Canon
Oviraptor Family: Canon
Pteranodon female: Canon
Pteranodon male: “Canon”
Death Stalker: Canon
