The Deathly Dawn (Private w Tenebria)

[silverwolf10105]

Storm was gazing out of the entrance of the den when a small cracking noise caught her attention. Her eyes turned to the source and her breath quickened in excitement. After a quick scan outside of the den with no threats detected, she turned her full attention to the pale cream colored egg that now had a small crack in its shell. She crooned encouragement to it and watched with excited eyes, even as a million worries ran through her head. What if it couldn't hatch? Was it supposed to take this long? Was it healthy? All worries were brought to a halt as the egg split in half and a tiny wet hatchling emerged from the egg, taking it's first breath's of air. No other emotions could be felt other than the overpowering love she felt for her dark gray hatchling. She gently nuzzled the gray hatchling and felt her heart melt at the small happy meep it gave. After it dried off she went to the pile of meat she had brought back from her hunt and started to feed small chunks she had torn off to the ravenous baby. 

[tenebria]

Makta shifted her tail around her more as she leaned against one of the boulders that created her sleeping nest, settling herself comfortably as she kept her eyes on the skies. It was a calming process she'd made up, and it seemed to help minimize nightmares. A few minutes later, the stars she needed were in sight, and she began creating pictures, drawing lines from one star to the next with her eyes as other large dinosaurs began emerging from the stars. Yes, that one definitely looked like Zarda, and there was Kaldor... her vision blurred slightly as her scarred eye sent a sting of pain through her nerves and she growled softly. Even looking at the stars she couldn't find peace anymore. Dismissing the hope of a dreamless night, she laid her head on the ground and began dozing off slowly.

[silverwolf10105]

(Bwahahaha, guess who's finally back! I'm in love with the new background for Proboards btw. Blue and winter are two of my most favorite things! Also love your Profile Picture!)

It was only when the small dark gray and mottled black hatchling's belly had swelled to the point of bursting that it yawned widely and curled up to sleep. Storm gave it a gentle smile and rumbled soothingly to it as he drifted off to sleep. It was almost concerning how much he had eaten, and she couldn't help but feel worries creep back into her mind of how she would be able to sate growing hatchling appetites. Another cracking sound filled the den and all thoughts completely left her mind as she crooned encouragment to the last egg, heart panging at the thought of the one lost. Her breath caught in her throat as the shell finally cracked open to reveal a beautiful white hatchling with light blue markings similar to her own. A nagging worry of how small this hatchling was compared to her brother sped through her thoughts only to be swept away with a mothers conviction that her babies were perfect. As the small head wobbled and rose from the ground her eyes widened at the loud, almost demanding, creel from the hatchling. "Shhhhh, little one. Your food is here. We must be quiet though, or others may hear," She gently scolded her daughter while giving her her first piece of meat.

[tenebria]

(LOL ikr!! Very pretty. Aww ty!!!)

Makta suddenly awoke with a jerk, eyes snapping open as she raised her head and looked around. Every sense in her was tingling. Something was watching her. Something.... getting to her claws she raised herself high, sniffing the dark landscape for any scent of her onlooker. As she turned to survey her surroundings, a shadow briefly was illuminated by the moons light as it came from behind a cloud before it disappeared. And what it showed her, scared and angered her. Giganotosaurus. One of her only enemies. Her jaw clenched as her vision swayed, stress causing her nerves to activate in her eye, confusing her sight. "If you have something to say come out and say it!" she suddenly roared to the silent woods. For a few moments, silence was her only answer, and she was beginning to think she'd seen things. Until the trees began to sway, and a large claw, topped with a fearsome head emerged from the darkness. "Easy there cousin" the large creature hissed, stalking towards her. She raised herself higher, tensely readying her stance. "Calm yourself, I come not for a fight" the giganotosaurus tilted his head, looking at her curiously. "But I must say, in all my travels, a lone tyrannosaurus is not something I see often" he said, taking another step closer. She still started at him suspiciously. "What are you doing in my territory" she growled defensively. "I'm just passing through, no worries, no worries at all" he said, still staring at her. So far it didn't seem he'd noticed her blind eye, and she wanted to keep it that way, turning her head slightly so her other side was shadowed. "Pardon if I stare, but your coloring is quite remarkable" the large creature said suddenly, taking yet another step forward. "I thank you for the compliment." she said stiffly. "Will you be moving on tonight?" she questioned, in a manner that suggested he would be. "I suppose, I suppose. The hunt is never over you know" he said suddenly. Her caution alarms were screaming at her at that point, but she attempted to remain calm. "Well then, may you have a good hunt, and find your own hunting grounds" She said pointedly. He smiled at her, his sharp fangs glistening in the moonlight. "I was actually wondering if you could help me. Neither of us have a pack, and you know how much easier it is to hunt when there's more" he said. Makta shrugged "I get by, and I already hunted today." she said shortly, done with this conversation and the strange predator. "Ah, I see I have overstayed my welcome. I shall be going then" he said with another sudden flashing of teeth to her. "See you around, golden one" he said with a slight strange inclination of his head before he turned and raced into the darkness. She glared after him, her nerves still tense. A giganotosaurus never had normal conversations. Their conversations always meant something. Something ominous. As she stomped back over to the river to drink some water, knowing she was definitely not getting any sleep that night, something bothered her. Something about the looks of that dinosaur. Closing her eyes for a moment, she attempted to bring up his image again. Yes... yes there had been something strange.. if she could only pin point what it was. And then suddenly it flashed into her mind, and her skin went numb. A piece of shining metal had been wrapped loosely around his throat. He came from the humans. And now they would come for her.

[silverwolf10105]

It was peaceful in Storm's small den. Both hatchlings had fallen asleep and were safely curled up by her side, a twitch coming from them every once in awhile while they dreamed. As she gazed up at the stars she sighed heavily, wrapping a little tighter around her hatchlings. The night was filled with the sounds of insects in the forest, the wind rustling the leaves and grass. The distant roar of a Tyrannosaurus could be heard along with the scents of another large predator she didn't recognize, but neither were close enough to cause particular alarm. All they did was serve a reminder of how careful she had to be when going about. It would be twice as hard now with the hatchlings. They weren't fast or strong enough to keep up with her while she hunted, and she would have to leave them by themselves while she hunted. She would have to move her den as well with how easily the utahraptors had found it, but she couldn't move out of this area just yet since the hatchlings were to young. There had been a large hollow log close to a river she had seen in her hunts that would work for the time being, and she would take them there first thing in the morning after eating what was left of the meat. While it wasn't ideal she would have to go on another hunt. She sighed and laid her head down, letting the sounds of the forest lull her to sleep.

[tenebria]

Makta's nerves were running wild as she once again relived the horrible night of death, every moment flashing with searing pain into her memory. With great effort she pushed them down, slowing her panicking breaths. No, they would not come that night, she had time. And perhaps they would not come at all. Trying to calm herself down, she stomped back over to her sleeping spot and lay down, willing sleep to come. Only once the main hours of the night did she finally fall into a fitful doze, dreams haunting every corner of her minds eye.

[silverwolf10105]

After what felt like the longest night ever, waking up to the smallest noises because of her new motherly instinct’s, the sun finally started peeking over the horizon. As light started filtering into the den, she rose to her feet and stretched widely with a yawn. Ignoring the rumble of her stomach she pulled the last chunk of meat over to her and started tearing it into smaller pieces. As she worked the hatchlings slowly started to wake up, both of them yawning and stretching before turning to look at her with bright eyes. With a fond chuckle she started feeding them until all the remaining food was gone. By the time they had finished the sun was well above the horizon, and she cautiously padded out of the den, sniffing the air for any hints of danger before rumbling to the hatchlings for them to follow her.

[tenebria]

Makta awoke from her fitful dozing, lifting her large head as the sun's rays disturbed her. With a grateful growl she got to her claws, hefting herself up with her tail and shaking herself before stomping over to the river again. After quenching her thirst, she turned to the next necessity, food. Thankfully, no creature had attempted to steal the carcass she'd dragged home the night before, and she quickly set upon it, her strong jaws crunching the bones to dust as she ripped it to pieces. All too soon it was gone, and she let out a growl of dissatisfaction. She was certainly still hungry, but it was such a bother to have to go waste her energy on a hunt once again, especially with the prey moving further and further from her domain. With a sigh, she turned and gazed over the land before deciding on the same route as she had taken the day before. Lumbering forwards she swiftly picked up an earth shaking trot, her legs stretching out in long strides as she strode across her territory, heading for the large field at the forests edge. Perhaps some unsuspecting triceratops would be feeding there.

[silverwolf10105]

Storm moved at a slow trot, glancing back every few seconds to make sure the male hatchling, now named Pyro, was still following close behind. After a few minutes of walking she had decided to pick up the female, who she had named Flutter, since she was having a hard time keeping up with her small size. They were headed close to the area she had hunted yesterday, in the direction of where the river was. She remembered that she had spotted a hollow log that would work for a temporary den until the hatchlings were strong enough to travel longer distances. While it wasn't ideal, she had no choice even if she knew a tyrannosaurus lived in the area. It wasn't uncommon for the large carnivores to travel in large groups, and they were very territorial. It also wasn't uncommon for them to prey on raptor hatchlings. Almost as if her thoughts had summoned it she stopped in her tracks, eyes widening as she smelled the scent of the carnivore she had just been thinking about. In a panic she darted into the undergrowth, using her tail to knock Pyro to the side of the trail she had been following. Hoping it hadn't heard his yelp of surprise she bared her teeth at him, slightly guilty, but it did the job as he went silent, sensing something was wrong. She huddled close to the ground over him and Flutter as she saw the tyrannosaurus. Usually she would have scented it much sooner, but holding Flutter in her mouth had made it harder to smell other things. As it came in her direction she saw that it was large and black, with gold markings.

[tenebria]

Makta reached her vantage point for gazing out over the field, and quickly raised herself up, her gaze hopefully scanning the tall grass. An annoyed growl rumbled in her throat as she realized it was empty. Of course, since one of their own was killed earlier that day, it made sense that they wouldn't return. If she'd actually gotten sleep last night, she might have thought of that. Her demeanor was doubly fearsome as she stomped down to the field, intending to at least make sure the area was cleared of any intruders, namely the Giganotosaurus. It unsettled her that the creature had trespassed on her domain, and she had a strange feeling that it was not the last she would be seeing of him. As she reached the field and rose on her haunches, a sudden tantalizing scent wafted by her nostrils and she breathed in deeply. Young raptors. Somewhere very close. Her golden eye glittered with hunger, and she took a few moments to latch onto the direction before slowly heading towards it, keeping her head high to scout for danger, and scanning the tree line as she did so. A young raptor was quite the tender delicacy, although it was quite a small morsel, but if she was lucky, she might happen upon an entire brood, and perhaps the parents as well, which would make for an added bonus to entice her hunger for a real meal. As the scent grew stronger, she slowed her pace, dropping her head and sniffing the dusty triceratops path, used for traveling between the field and the river. As the dust billowed around her nostrils she could see the faint tracks of a larger raptor, along with some lighter, barely visible hatchling tracks. She narrowed her eye in slight annoyance. Only two raptors. That was quite a pity. But two were certainly better than none. Slowly she stalked forwards, her heavy claws thudding into the earth and causing the trees to shake, dislodging a late remaining flock of Archaeopteryx. Suddenly the scent grew much more intense and she ground to a halt, her golden eye shifting as she searched the underbrush. "They're here somewhere" she whispered hungrily to herself, taking another slow step forwards.

[silverwolf10105]

Storm felt her blood freeze as it looked like the tyrannosaurus had noticed their scent, and started searching for them. Her mind raced with panic and trying to figure out how to escape the dangerous situation. Steeling herself she could think of only one plan of action. There was no way the hatchlings would be able to escape, and there was no way she could overpower a tyrannosaurus. The only way to protect her hatchlings would be to lead the predator away. The only thing that raptors could use against other predators was their speed. Moving as slow as possible to avoid the tyrannosaurus's detection she set Flutter down and pushed her and her brother against roots of the tree next to them, glaring at them to stay there before she started stalking as silently as possible away from them, not wanting to give away their position. Once she was a bit further away from them she would reveal herself and try to get the tyrannosaurus to focus on her and lead it away from them.

[tenebria]

Makta scented deeply once more, a bush trembling at the power of her breath. Her eyes roved the forest piercingly as she stilled, watching and waiting for her prey to make a move. The scent was still extremely strong where she was, and she hadn't heard any crackling brush, so it was safe to assume they were hiding somewhere nearby. Oh how she wanted that tender morsel in her jaws! Suddenly she saw a slight shifting of underbrush, that could have been the wind, except that the wind was not blowing that strongly at the moment. Her eyes glittered and she took a earth shaking step forwards, her claws crushing the vegetation as she narrowed in on the location. "I see you" she hissed coldly, preparing her jaws to plunge down.

[silverwolf10105]

Storm mentally cursed as the Tyrannasaurus spotted her. While she wasn't as far away from the hatchlings as she preferred she would have to make it work. As she heard the deep hiss of the predator she lunged away, getting out of the range of it's large jaws before hissing loudly in return. "Even if you see me it doesn't mean you can catch me!" She didn't continue running though, stopping just out of reach of the carnivore She had to rile up the tyrannosaurus enough to chase her instead of focusing on the hatchlings. Adrenaline was making her breathing speed up and she was tense, ready to leap away at a moments notice. Her skin streched taunt along her ribs, showing just how much thinner than normal she was.

[tenebria]

Makta hissed in annoyance as the raptor suddenly leapt out of her way, then strangely turned and hissed at her. She growled in anger at the taunt. "Do not attempt to go against me, raptor" she growled in return, preparing to leap forward. And then she paused, hesitating. The raptor was tensely standing still... almost waiting for her. But why? And then she remembered, and a cold smile spread over her muzzle. "Ah, you poor mindless lizard" she hissed "Did you think I was really that brainless to go after one bony raptor, when there's a tempting morsel hidden in the bushes near me?" she questioned, taking a quick moment to glance around, hoping for a glimpse of the said hatchlings. "Perhaps if you tell me where you hid them, I can spare your own worthless life" she growled, although she really didn't mean a word of it.

[silverwolf10105]

Storm's hiss turned to as close to a roar as a raptor could get as her eyes flashed in anger. "If you think you will get even close to those hatchlings you are sorely mistaken." She would never tell it where she had hid them! Her mind froze as she spotted the last thimg she had wanted to see. Flutter had stepped slightly out of the hiding place, her white and light blue scales almost a blinding give away against the mottled brown and green scenery. Storm kept her eyes trained on the Tyrannosaurus, legs bunching up to leap out the second it looked like it might spot the tiny hatchling that wasn't even as big as one of its massive claws. Storms motherly instincts wouldn't hesiate to attack the larger predator even if it mean't her own death. She wouldn't loose another hatchling!