The sun was rising over the forest as the cats were soon awake. A loud bellow was heard as Turtle looked up. He saw one of the Edmontosaurus giving out its farewell call to the forest. The ever shortening day has finally signaled to the herd the onset of the great annual migration. It was time to finally head south towards the sun in a grueling trek that would find them food, light and safety. Leaving the desolation of the forest and the predators behind them. Some of the kits turn back to see the female Edmontosaurus juvenile that was slaughtered that night be picked over by scavengers as the Stenonychosaurus surround it. The two males hissed as Turtle watched. Only the herd's dead would remain as they would be the sustenance for the predators that would stay behind for the winter. Robin's flight soon nudged Turtle as he wanted him to get going.
"Come on Turtle you don't want to get left behind." Robin's Flight mewed as she nudged him on. Turtle turned as he proudly walked off. The 1,000 mile trek wasn't going to be an easy one. They would be on the move for 15 hours a day traveling at 3 miles an hour. The approximation of the time to arrive at their destination: Three weeks and two days. That is a feat that some animals would say would take months to travel but since it was a straight shot down, they would get all the time that they need. Turtle and the other kits were barely strong enough for the journey, but with the herd to guide them, many kits would endure.
As the first few steps were filled as the cats trekked through the forest, other groups of cats and Edmontosaurus were starting to merge together. They were doing this for safety in numbers. The cats looked up and around seeing cats from many different groups that they didn't know much about each other unless they merged together to form one big mega group upon which they would be traveling together. The Edmontosaurus would do much the same thing, since they had no defenses against normal predators; they would use numbers to make sure they endure the long march south. It was clear there was also one more species wanting to travel with them. Turtle was looking around as he saw the migrating species from before in their thousands. It was the Pachyrhinosaurus as they were also heading south as well. The three groups knew that the migration had just begun. They were soon approaching the outer edges of their forest home to merge with other herds and groups heading south. The Nodosaur looked on ahead as he saw Turtle and his family finally head south.
"Good luck out there little one. See you until next sunny day." The Nodosaur bidded to Turtle farewell and good luck. He soon turned his head as he went back to feeding. It was clear he was going to stay behind to endure what the winter had to throw at him. It was clear that he wasn't the only one. The others were going to be the predators as they saw they couldn't leave their homes. Including the king of the forest.
Patch patrolled around as the ground as he was still looking for food. The Stenonychosaurus was built to survive the long winter but they still had the autumn to go. Several Stenonychosaurus were taking a risk by feeding on the Nanuqsaurus' kill but this would be the last big meal for them for the next few months so it was a risk they were willing to take. Two mature males and two females looked around. The eldest and largest of the group was Scar, the name as he had several scars on the snout. He took a chunk of meat from the dead Edmontosaurus.
"So I was saying that the winter would bring hard times right?" Scar began the conversation. The others listened in as Patch moved in. It was clear he was well down the pecking order. He hoped for a few scraps at best, at worst, his own carcass would form tomorrow's leftovers.
"Yeah." The other Stenonychosaurus responded. Patch continued to edge in closer as he wanted a piece of this kill.
"And that means the mating season would come soon right." Scar asked the others as they were taking chunks of meat from the carcass.
"Yeah." They responded again. Patch continued to edge in closer as he wanted to eat some of the meat.
"So I decided to choose a good location to build my nest right." Scar continued the conversation as the others listened in.
"Yeah." They responded again with some curiosity. Patch continued to wander over.
"And that location would be underneath a cliff as it would mean a good sheltered place from the wind." Scar finished as he told them the best place to build a nest. The others listened as they began to shrill with excitement.
"From the wind? That's excellent. No one would want their potential babies to freeze out in the middle of the cold winter. Considering how cold and dark the winters would be. The males would stay behind and swap with the females as they each left to find enough food to feed themselves and keep the eggs warm so they didn't freeze. Patch soon got within range as he spoke.
"Hey there got room for one more on this kill?" Patch asked nicely. Scar snapped at Patch telling him to back off.
"Hey look who it is, the one who can't hunt." Scar hissed to Patch. Patch soon felt the need to defend himself.
"Hey I can hunt but I haven't mastered it yet. I will come with time. I hatched from an egg last spring and I am on my way to being a responsible hunter. Give me a chance." Patch hissed as he wanted to take a bite from the carcass. He soon pulled out a chunk of meat as Scar bit Patch's snout to tear him away from the carcass.
"Hey! No hunt! No food!" Scar hissed as he was telling him that if you can't hunt, you can't eat. Patch swallowed the hunk of meat as he wanting to get something in his system.
"We need to share as we never knew who it might belong it to." Patch hissed as he wanted to make sure they needed to make sure they weren't hissing but an ear piercing roar was heard as the huge Nanuqsaurus approached the carcass. He knew no one should be stealing from the king's kill.
"What are you little shrews eating at my carcass!" The Nanuqsaurus roared as he didn't tolerated the smaller carnivores stealing his kill.
"Hey we found this so back off!" Scar hissed as the other Stenonychosaurus rallied behind Scar as they wanted to defend this kill. Patch saw this as an opportunity to get some meat in his gut as they moved forth to feed himself.
Scar and the others hissed at the huge predator as they wanted to defend themselves from the kill even though they were stealing. Scar and the females were holding back as they knew intimidation could do the trick. A reckless male Stenonychosaurus soon ran up to the Nanuqsaurus as it bit into the huge predator's leg and inflicts a savage bite. The huge predator roared in pain as it soon turned to the attacker as he clamped down his huge jaws around the delicate body of the Stenonychosaurus as it flung it from its spot. The small predator hissed as its body was flung against a tree and killed instantly. The predator roared again as it wanted the predators to flee. Scar seeing one of his fellow species killed knew that he couldn't hold against them as he knew the best option now was to retreat.
"Retreat there is no way we can win!" Scar called out to the females as they turned their feathery tails and made a run for it. The Nanuqsaurus roared as it approached Patch who was eating the carcass still.
"And you get out of here." The Nanuqsaurus roared as he wanted him to go. Patch soon turned and ran off. It was clear he was going to remain hungry. The Nanuqsaurus roared as he wanted to be able to rightfully claim what was his. He soon bit down into the carcass as he began tearing off meat from the carcass. Unaware the Stenonychosaurus bite he sustained would lead to his downfall. For now, he was well and reigning high.
The sun was setting as night came and the migrating group was still going the next morning. With the short days, they knew they had to move fast in order to escape the incoming night. They soon made the first milestone on their journey south as they numbered in their millions.
"That's the end of the arctic forest." Sparrow's Cry mewed as she looked at her kits as they were now heading onto the open plains. Her kits were keeping up with the herd. Turtle was proud as he knew that he was traveling with his family but this open landscape was a hostile new world. Which flew underneath the skies that held unfamiliar threats. Turtle looked up to see massive bird like creatures whose wing could block out the sun. Scavengers who know that this journey would soon start taking its toll. The kits were frightened as they scampered for cover.
"What are those things?" Moth shrieked as she didn't know what the huge creatures were. Sparrow's Cry turned to her as she didn't know what it was either. Little did they know there was another surprise from above.
Tiger's leap looked up as he saw the big dark gray clouds were gathering over their heads as he knew those clouds meant trouble. They were traveling as the air got cold. Tiger's leap looked at the cats as they were traveling.
"Cats of the group. Clouds mean something bad will happen. Whatever the weather has to throw at us, we have to keep moving." Tiger's leap announced to them as they kept moving. Soon the surprise decided to show its ugly face. A white flake soon began to drift from the skies as it was floating down. The breath of the herbivores and cats were trying to warm the air up around them to stay comfortable. The flake soon landed in front of Turtle who was curious about what was going on.
"Hey Sparrow? What was that white flake that fell in front of me?" Turtle asked as he was wondering what was going on. Sparrow's cry looked at Turtle as another white flake fell in front of them.
"You've never seen snow before?" Sparrow asked Turtle if he had any ideas on what was happening. The flakes continued to pick up as the wind began to howl. The temperature dropped significantly and the first small flakes rapidly turned into a blizzard. The cats and Edmontosaurus were completely defenseless against the elements but their quest to find the sun was pushing them on. To cope with the freezing temperatures, there was only way how: keep moving at all costs.
Turtle shivered as he was slowly falling behind as the herd kept marching through the storm. Kits were the most vulnerable to the violent snowstorms as their small bodies were easily overwhelmed by the cold. Turtle continued to move slower and slower before collapsing into the snow. It was clear the herd wasn't going to wait for anyone. Those that couldn't keep up were left behind to die.
"Come back. Come back Sparrow!" Turtle pleaded for Sparrow to turn around and return to pick him up and bring him back. It was clear that Sparrow didn't want to turn back and get separated from the group. "Sparrow please!" The small kit wailed as a huge animal bellowed out.
"Get a move on!" He roared. He soon helped the small kit to his paws as he was determined to keep the stragglers going. It was clear that this animal was no stranger to snow and wanted to protect the kit.
"Thanks." Turtle mewed to the huge creature as he knew that the animal was going to spur him on.
"No problem." He responded as he used his massive body to help shelter the kit from the weather and setting a pace that Turtle could follow. "What might your name be?" The huge Edmontosaurus asked the small kit.
"Turtle." The kit responded. He still shivered from the cold temperatures but the wind wasn't bothering him as much.
"I'm Veteran." The Edmontosaurus responded to the kit. Turtle nodded as Veteran spoke. "I have twenty winter migrations behind me and I've been through this all before. This must be your first." Veteran was an old male as he was the largest of the herd. He soon turned his head to see the Pachyrhinosaurus struggling through the snowstorm as well.
"It certainly is." Turtle responded as Veteran smiled to the kit. He knew that he wanted to get them going.
"Stick by me and the storm will be good as done." Veteran grunted as they continued to battle their way through the blizzard. Turtle continued to travel along using the other herbivores as a guide as well as following the few that he could see in front of him. Veteran's eyes shut as he sneezed. It was clear that Turtle's new companion had problems of his own.
"Bless you. Is there something wrong?" Turtle asked Veteran if he was sick or something wasn't right with him. Veteran sneezed again. It was clear he didn't have any sort of sickness lingering in his old body but something was wrong with his mind. He soon sneezed again.
"I don't know what's wrong with me Turtle." Veteran responded. All Veteran knew that this was his last migration.
[A/N]: Splitting it up between two different points of view with Patch stuck in the polar north and Turtle's adventure south. Where do you want to see this story go and why? Any form of criticism is welcome. We need those reviews.
Is there something wrong with Veteran himself as he seems to be sneezing a lot? It's not a cold or flu, but something bigger. I would like to hear your answers in the reviews since we need those for the future.