Hello!
I apologize for the lack of updates.
I was going to have this chapter be about Blue, Echo and maybe Owen, but then this came out. :D
The prey the pack hunted was normally small mammals and dinosaurs. A common tactic was for the sisters to chase and shepard prey along a worn torn trail used by various animals. Grasses worn and broken along the path, but thick and rich with foliage and shadows on all sides. A ripe place for ambush, allowing a sister to rest whilst another leapt from her hidden lair and resumed the hunt, leading their quarry ever closer towards the killing field. When death came, it came swift.
Death was shaped like a sickle upon a single scaled toe.
The pack mainly hunted small prey, for they did not have the numbers, and risk of injury was too high.
This meant that only one pack member would feed at a time, and the others would go hungry until it was their turn to reap.
Now, however, things were different.
The pack was even more splintered.
Echo and Blue were still gone, and in Charlie's state, the youngest sister could not hunt.
The pack was, for all intents and purposes, down to only two hunters.
And Delta was, by far, the better of the two.
The green hued female with coloration so light, she was nigh grey, was accurate with her strikes and slashes. She was swift. She was agile. She was precise. She was stealthy.
All things Amethyst was not. The hulking Utahraptor was too large to run down prey for long distances. Too large to be as agile as any of his mates. Too heavy to be as agile as his females. Too vivid of hue to properly ambush.
The pack normally hunted small prey, fatigued from being run down and only enough for one sister.
Now, they were being forced to target more dangerous prey.
They were targeting prey that was normally only hunted by The Scarred One.
Amethyst and Delta were hunting down the stocky, frilled horned prey that sported thick armored hides, and were prone to charging.
Or, rather, the pair were after their young.
Delta's golden, serpentine eyes dully glittered in the dim light that broke through the darkness of the canopy, her gaze sharp and focused. Her clawed hands clenched and unclenched in anticipation, breath deep, yet controlled as she awaited for the moment to stripe. Her killings claws twitched and dully tapped upon the leaf and grass trodden forest floor. Beyond the shadows of her hidden lair, lay sunlight.
A small herd of the horned prey meandered and trudged along their grazing fields, the gentle wind of the valley casting the grasses to and fro in a dance, carrying with it the faint scent of the sea. There were several females, and a large, old bull, horned frill scarred from previous battles-but if from predators, or from other males, Delta was unsure.
And she didn't entirely care.
She was more focused upon the calves that were romping around, snorting, kicking up grass and dirt, and butting each other's heads.
As the young calves played, a few of them neared closer and closer to Delta's hiding spot. The female Raptor skulked back slightly, as if fearful of being seen. Though she fought the urge to lunge forth from her hidden sanctuary, instinct beckoning for her to pounce upon such hapless prey.
But Delta couldn't.
She wouldn't.
That would ruin the plan.
And hearing the harrowing, wailing trill of her alpha echo on the opposite end of her shadowed lair, Delta knew the plan had begun.
Charlie wasn't used to being alone.
Completely alone.
Utterly alone.
It made the youngest, green striped sister nervous.
And it didn't help that she was beginning to feel sharp, twisting, stabbing pain in her belly.
Thus, the youngest sister was forced to lay down upon her nest, instinct instructing her.
Charlie's breath was swift and hitched, a soft, pained squawk involuntarily rising from her throat as another piercing wave struck her swollen belly.
Body tense, Charlie's golden eyes were wide with fear, head swiveling, breath becoming ragged. Her tail flicked in agitation, and in a nervous tic. She attempted to shuffle the best she could upon her crouched legs, muscles rippling and quivering under green scales.
Her chest expanded and decompressed with her panicked breathing, anxiety and fear rising.
Charlie was alone!
Charlie was in pain, and she was alone!
The youngest sister attempted to call for help, but her breath was stolen from her as another stab of pain came from her belly.
This time, the pain was far stronger than the others. More intense. More frightening.
It felt like she was being split in half.
The pain was so intense that Charlie ceased to breathe, before sucking in a ragged breath, head hitting the earthen ground, eyes tightly closed. Her clawed hands dug and raked as the ground, a killing claw thumping, pounding desperately into the earth.
The pain became almost too much as her body heaved, and in an act of desperation, and fear, Charlie forced her maw agape, and released a quivering cry for help.
She didn't understand!
Where were her sisters?
Where was her mate?
Why did they leave her all alone?
All alone, while she was in pain?
All alone, while she was vulnerable?
Why weren't any of her pack mates answering?
Why weren't any of them coming?
Charlie opened her golden hued eyes when she heard the brush rustle, and felt footfalls tremor the earth.
Charlie couldn't help it!
The youngest sister released an excited chirp-if quivering from her discomfort-upon hearing her mate return!
Her alpha was coming!
Her mate answered!
Charlie wasn't alone anymore!
Out of the foliage, and into the clearing of the thicket, came not the hulking, vivid hue of her mate.
What came out, was of a crimson hued predator, with teeth and twin horns, attracted by the cries of easy prey.
The haunting, shrill wail produced by the alpha predator was enough to bring about the herd's attention-and the old bull was the first to charge.
The scarred bull, lowered his frilled head, nares flaring and casting askew dust in his wrath, horns shaking in display and warning. A front leg pawed at the ground, hind feet digging into the earth in preparation in charge. The females, while joining the male from several feet behind him, were focused upon putting themselves between the their calves, and this large predator.
The calves themselves looked on in curiosity, and fear at the nearby danger, huddled together for safety.
Amethyst suppressed a rumble from his throat, nares flaring as a forked tongue briefly slipped passed his scaled lips. The hulking beast was now upon his hind legs, towering over the horned prey, an armed claw raking the air, killing claws poised.
The crowned feathers upon the Utahraptor's head stood erect, a mane of downy purple, mature black and golden tipped feathers rising along his back. When the odd predator opened his maw, a serpentine hiss escaped him, fangs extending, before an echoed crack rang out as his jaws closed shut.
The alpha then charged forth, ceasing in his mock charge just before the herd's old bull lunged forth, and went to ram the predator. The male's horns got no where close to the purple hued predator, but it did not stop Amethyst from raising a hind leg, and swinging his killing claw downwards, a slice being heard as it cut through the air.
Amethyst was, however, forced to back up as a female gained enough courage to briefly charge, and in fear of getting skewered, the alpha male fell back down upon all fours, tail flicking. A forceful hiss ruptured from his maw, a wad of spit launching at the female's eyes, which caused her to snort, and bray, horned head shaking and feet stomping in rage.
Upon seeing one of his females in danger-that was when the old bull charged.
And it wasn't a mock.
The hulking beast barely had time to rise upon his hind legs to avoid his belly being gorged, Amethyst's muscular forearms rising and slamming onto the bull's scarred frill. Amethyst grunted as he felt himself be pushed backwards by the bull's weight, a killing claw digging into the ground, feet planting down. But as much as he could feel the bull pushing him back, he could also feel the bull struggle to push forward-and not be pushed back himself.
Muscles rippling and veins pulsating just under his scales, Amethyst's belly convulsed as he briefly felt the tip of a horn brush against his stomach. The old bull grunted, hind legs shaking and rippling with raw muscle as he attempted to gain just enough ground to push forward.
Amethyst, in desperation, rose one of his hind legs, and raked his massive gutting claw along the side of the bull's face. The sudden pain caused the bull to buck and bray, and retreat from the deadlock, head shaking and stocky legs stomping with rage.
The high pitched, panicked squeals of the calves, however, soon turned the herd's attention away from Amethyst, to Delta.
The grey-green sister was currently wrestling a horned calf into submission, Delta riding atop the bucking quarry, killing claw jamming into its hide to wound and not fall off. Her jaws were currently attempting to get around its throat.
The call of the wounded calf, however, earned the ire of the females.
Specifically, the calf's mother.
And when Delta barely noticed the charging mother-that was when the female was forced to cease her attack, and flee.
In one smooth, feline leap, Delta's feet slammed into the ground, before taking off in full sprint into the brush.
While some females remained with the bull, several of them returned to defend their calves.
And like buffalo to a lion hiding within the brush, the irate females did not stop at the dense foliage that held the crafty sister.
They charged right through, and broke tree and bush, foliage snapping and wood splintering and snapping.
If the females couldn't find Delta, they were going to trample her out of hiding.
Delta herself was scurrying through the dense brush that now seemed to be exploding around her, the horned prey charging forth and goring tree and ground. Their angry footfalls shaking the earth to her front, to her back, and to her sides. Delta would run one way, and a female would suddenly be there, or explode right behind her, horns lowered to gore her and feet stomping to crush.
Leaves, wood and dirt spritzed through the air, the almost deafening noise of massive armored beasts charging and destroying everything they could all at once was disorienting, and confusing.
Delta's heart was pounding in her chest, breathing swift and deep, eyes focused and muscles rippling as her legs burned to escape and carry her to safety. But Delta didn't know where safety even was. For all she knew, she was running in circles!
In her panicking, the grey-green sister ended up face to face with a female of the herd, head down and horns ready.
Delta released a shrill cry in panic, before her tired legs gave one last, desperate leap.
The female Raptor leapt onto the thick back of the horned beast, and in another, feline leap, Delta sought the only safe place she could think of.
In the trees.
Body slamming against the rough bark of a tree, Delta's clawed arms and killing claws clung desperately to the bark. With haste, the female scurried her way up the tree as best she could-nearly falling in her panic as the sounds of the chaos below hung heavy in her mind. Clawing her way to a thick and sturdy limb, Delta watched below, before flicking her golden gaze out towards the clearing-which she could see through the now sparse trees.
A cry suddenly rang out from Delta, however, as she almost lost her balance, and fell. Looking down once more, the Raptor saw that one of the females was currently charging at the tree, attempting to knock Delta off her safe perch.
And for a second time, Delta almost did-the grey-green sister barely catching herself, arms burning as her legs tried to swing up and over to regain purchase. When she looked down, all she saw was horns.
In fear, it was then that Delta did something she rarely did.
Delta called for help.
Amethyst's head snapped towards the call of his mate's plea.
Impulsively-instinctively-the alpha answered Delta's call in a wail, and rising upon his hind legs once more-made his way towards her.
So enraptured was the alpha in answering his mate's call, that he briefly forgot the situation he was in.
Reality became known when Amethyst was stopped in his stride by a horn embedding itself into his thigh.
In a shriek of pain, the large male fell to the ground, body twisting as he did so-and stabbed the killing claw of his uninjured leg into the old bull's eye.
Almost instantly did the bull retract himself away, once more bucking and braying, injured side being rubbed against the ground.
Killing claw flicking flecks of crimson, Amethyst moved to rise.
To get up.
To answer the call of his mate.
To go to Delta.
Only to realize something.
The alpha was surrounded by stocky, frilled horned prey that sported thick armored hides, and were prone to charging.
The main hunting strategy the pack uses is based on aves that hunt in packs, such as Harris Hawks.
Thank you for reading and please give me your thoughts!