Chapter 4: Racing with the wind
He loved being a gallimimus. Then again many members of his herd did to, after all they may not have killing claws or sharp teeth, but they do make up for this with speed. This made them better than all those slow moving dinosaurs like the wide ankylosaur, or the fat saltasaur, the triceratops, the hadrosaur groups, heck even the dryosaur! Furthermore they can eat both meat and veggies. What other kind of animal can do that anyway? None except for them!
Well this is just according to Zephyr and the younger gallimimus. He and the others hatched two months ago and he now stood close to the adults knees. The moment he had hatched he began to run after a few wobbly steps. His mother was hard press with keeping her son in the nest. It didn't take long before he and the other hatchlings were allowed to run with the herd. They were taught about large carnivores that can eat them as well as small ones whose speed rivaled their own. Unfortunately for the adults, Zephyr didn't believe them one bit. For all his life so far there were no predators. In fact he hasn't even seen some so he couldn't help but doubt such existence. It was downright impossible for a carnivore to be as fast as them or taller than them. Well he did meet a brachiosaur herd not too long ago so he didn't doubt big dinosaurs but meat eaters? Please. They wouldn't catch him even if they were real.
Right now he and the herd were simply resting near a lake. At least most of the adults and younglings were. Zephyr was only one of five hatchlings that were exploring. Two adults were keeping watch. With them were a herd of dryosaurs. The two herds were mingling with each other, the adults resting and chirping at each other while the younglings played around. In the distance, a lone brachiosaurs' head rose above the trees. Zephyr chased a young female dryosaur around before chasing another male gallimimus. Zephyr later noticed a dragonfly and began to chase it. The other hatchlings stayed behind. He squeaked happily as he ran after the bite size bug, this is the life! He was born into the fastest animals in the world, it was a clear day, there was food, a nice fresh lake, and nothing to ruin this day.
That's when he heard it. Unearthly screeching sounds, ones he has never heard before. The other dinosaurs immediately stood up. The watchers began cawing, a sound that meant, "Danger! Danger"! The herd began screeching in terror as the adults circled the young and screeched in the direction of the noise. The dryosaurs attempted to hide behind the gallimimus. A female dryosaur was truly distressed. She had just recently escaped a pair of baby spinosaurs and had just found her herd. Now more predators were coming. What did she do to deserve this?
Zephyr was greatly confused. What were they so scared of? Ignoring his mothers' cries he looked in the direction they were staring at. Ten weird shapes were approaching at full speed. He and the other hatchlings had no idea what they were but the adults did. Velociraptors. The tall grass kind. And they were thirsty for blood. For the first time in his young life, Zephyr was frightened. The two herds immediately began to run, screeching in terror. Zephyr finally reacted, he ran in a completely different direction. Nine raptors chased the herd, but a young juvenile spotted Zephyr and pursued him. Zephyr finally understood what the adults meant. This guy was fast! As fast as he was, and that scared him just as much as getting killed. The young raptor chased after the gallimimus. The two dinosaurs raced across the fields, both trying to outrun the other. Zephyrs' instincts told him to zig-zag, which is exactly what he did. He darted to the left and the raptor hurtled past him. Collecting himself he screeched in anger and charged after his meal. He will not fail his first hunt, his life depended on it!
Zephyr then made a sharp right turn but his time the raptor was ready, he too took a sharp turn right, and soon he was only five feet away from his prey. Zephyr was truly panicking at this point, oh how he wished he was with his herd right now! He was getting tired; the long thirty minute race was starting to take its toll. Even the raptor was feeling the effects of the long run but he kept pushing himself harder. Zephyr became desperate, he ran back in the direction of the lake. The raptor followed behind. Zephyr was getting closer to the lake; if he can just reach it he can jump in and escape. He looked back behind him to see how the far the raptor was. Just then without warning Zephyr tripped over something. He squealed in pain as he tumbled head over tail. The raptor screeched to a halt when he saw the gallmimus fall. Seeing his prey was down, he slowly stalked towards the downed dinosaur. Zephyr couldn't get up. His strength was depleted, his body hurting from the fall. He couldn't do anything but watch in horror as the raptor took a step closer… closer… closer…
Longest chapter to date. I don't own JP at ALL.