The Herd

By TabbyBri (#430441) on Lioden

Arlex lay curled in a soft depression of leaves and grass beneath a large tree, which was one in a small grove of trees in which he and his friends had settled for the past two days. The small grove provided shelter, and yet was near a fairly large lake. For now, it was a decent place for them all to spend a few days.

Arlex had carefully scraped out the depression before nudging soft, leafy bedding into place for his nest, and now, as dawn began to ever so slightly pale the dark of the sky, he snored quietly. Around him, in similar nests, lay the rest of the herd; each of the four Parasaurolophuses had made somewhat more shallow depressions in the dirt than he had, but each had filled their nest with soft materials, such as long strips of moss scraped from stones, in order to soften their sleeping spots. The three male Parasaurolophuses' nests were close to the base of several trees, using the trunks as protective barriers from blustery winds. Rosa Choque, their herd's leader, lay not far from the others, though closer to the clearing than to the base of a tree. She had explained to Arlex that she enjoyed being able to see the stars as she fell asleep. Arlex was fairly certain, however, that at least part of her reason for the placement of her nest was that it put her in between any outside threats and the other Parasaurolophuses, of whom she was protective.

The two Utahraptor younglings, who had joined the herd just two days previously, lay curled up together, with Rando resting his head upon his brother, Aozora's, feathery back. Even now, the two lay with Rosa Choque's tail wrapped around them, her long neck having folded around to form a protective semi-circle around the two Utahraptors.

Although the two siblings had spent the first night with the herd in a nest somewhat set apart from the others, perhaps due to nervousness at the unfamiliarity of their new companions, Arlex had noticed with amusement the following morning that, at some point during the night, both young Utahraptors had relocated their sleeping spots, curling up together inside the loose curve of Rosa Choque's tail. The two young ones seemed to have quickly formed an attachment to Rosa, although her species was one that, ordinarily, Utahraptors would view as nothing more than a meal. Arlex could not blame the two young ones, however; Rosa had, after all, helped to rescue Rando when he had been suffocating in a sinking pit, and her compassion for the two predators had shone clearly through her actions and words. Alone, afraid, no longer with a pack of their own, the two younglings had clearly gravitated toward that warmth and compassion, especially Rando, who had spent most of yesterday following Rosa close at her side, chatting with her as she patiently answered all of the curious young one's questions. His brother had followed not far behind, though he had dropped back now and then to ask Arlex questions of his own.

Upon meeting the two Utahraptors, Arlex had immediately been ready to help them, of course, as he did not wish to see two young dinosaurs suffer – one from suffocation, the other from the loss of his sibling. Once Rando had been safely extricated from the mud pit, he was unable to resist offering his aid in teaching them how to hunt. Both had been hungry, due to their untrained hunting skills, and although the following day after their ordeal was spent on recuperation rather than hunting training, both younglings had clearly been relieved when Arlex had brought them a large meal (well, large for the two still-growing Utahraptors) of several Bradycnemes, a small species of dinosaur around 6.6 feet in height, with stout, feathered bodies and long legs. A single member of this species was only slightly longer than Arlex's head, but regardless, three Bradycnemes seemed to be plenty for the hungry Utahraptor siblings. They had torn the meat apart, gulping down the meal almost before Arlex could even drop it on the ground. They had, indeed, been hungry, and Arlex had just been relieved that their somewhat desperate feeding had occurred out of sight of the prey members of their group.

The three male Parasaurolophuses, Hanten, Gobgook, and Hiyake, had been startled when Rosa Choque and Arlex had returned to them with two Utahraptor younglings in tow, and Hiyake had quickly approached to learn what had happened. Arlex had stood back as Rosa Choque spoke with Hiyake, reassuring him that the two Utahraptors posed no threat either to him or to the rest of the herd. Although Hiyake had been briefly uneasy, glancing between the Utahraptors and the other two Parasaurolophuses behind him as if worried for their safety, he eventually nodded. “Yes,” he had conceded thoughtfully, “I suppose more members for the herd could be a really good thing.”

Gobgook then eagerly moved forward, questioning the two younglings about their circumstances, lives, and how they had met Arlex and Rosa in a stream of eager conversation that seemed to startle even Rando and Aozora, although the two young ones had responded willingly enough. Hanten had risen to his hind legs and watched the group's conversation, occasionally casting his gaze around their surroundings as though to keep an eye out for other, less friendly members of Rando and Aozora's pack, though he had returned his focus fully onto his herd once he had learned the fate of the younglings' pack, sympathy sparkling in his eyes.

The group had then eaten their separate meals and set about making their nests, and during the night, the Utahraptors' nests had migrated to share Rosa Choque's sleeping spot, while the other Parasaurolophuses had set up their own sleeping spots beneath the shelter of the trees.

As for Arlex, he had chosen a slightly elevated position for his nest beneath his chosen tree; one that allowed for continuous air flow that cooled his body and brought with it any scents from the forest and plains around him. Being a predator, Arlex interacted heavily with the world through not only sight and sound, but also smell. The constant air flow was not only pleasant, but would also give him plenty of forewarning should any strangers approach their herd. Perhaps Rosa Choque was, indeed, protective of her herd; but that didn't keep Arlex from being protective of all of them, from their leader, to their newest, youngest members. He preferred to keep aware of any potential threats to his herd, even while he slept. Now, however, his dreams were calm. His belly was full, his nest was soft, the wind blew gently over his warm-blooded body, keeping him from overheating in the otherwise warm air, and his nostrils were tickled with the comforting scent of his herdmates at rest.

As dawn chased away the darkess, however, there was some movement among the herd – or at least among two of them. Arlex's keen sense of smell would pick up any external threats, yes... but for scents that had already become familiar, and blanketed the area around him, he was not paying any mind. As such, his sleep was undisturbed by the fact that two scents were becoming stronger as their sources approached, as two small, feathery bodies crept up quietly alongside Arlex's slumbering form.

Standing a short distance away from the Meraxes gigas, Rando and Aozora exchanged a bright look, before they simultaneously sprang forward, thumping headfirst lightly into the side of Arlex's head.

Jarred awake, Arlex's eyes snapped open with a soft, snarling growl of surprise, and he looked around sharply. Heart racing from the abrupt awakening, he fixed his dark gaze on the two Utahraptors at his side, realizing what had just happened as the two younglings looked up at him with wide, cheerful eyes, clearly proud of themselves for startling the large predator.

“What was that for?” Arlex asked, a little grumpy. He had been sleeping, after all, and sleeping well.

Rando thrashed his tail excitedly. “Come on, Arlex! Today is when you're gonna teach us to hunt, remember?”

Aozora growled eagerly. “Yeah, yesterday you said that you'd teach us to hunt tomorrow. Well, it's tomorrow!”

Arlex lifted his head, more completely turning to regard the gray sky. Alright, yes, the sun was beginning to rise – at least so much as one considered the graying of the night's black to be the approach of the sun, which itself had yet to make on appearance on the horizon. Turning back to the two Utahraptors, he snorted, slightly amused now. “Kids, your definition of 'tomorrow' needs some work.”

Aozora frowned. “Nah, your definition of 'sleep time' needs some work. Why do all you adults sleep so long?”

Arlex chuckled and rose to his feet, leaving the warmth of his nest behind and standing in the gloom of the early dawn. “Alright, alright. I did promise to teach you to hunt, didn't I?”

“Alright!” Rando cried out, then winced and sent a guilty look to the side as Rosa Choque snorted at the sound, not quite awakening, and then curled more tightly into herself. Rando ducked his head, and more quietly, said to Arlex, “Alright, thanks! Let's go, come on!”

Aozora merely regarded Arlex with wide, admiring eyes, clearly excited to learn.

Arlex nodded. He was a decent hunter, himself, and these two younglings appeared to be very eager to learn. He doubted that this training would be too hard to do.

---

Crouched at the edge of a clearing with his chin resting on a boulder which was the perfect height for a head rest, watching two young Utahraptors break into an energetic tussle for the third time in just the past few minutes, Arlex found himself fervently wishing one of three things: One; that this was all a dream and he would wake up in his nest, cozy and comfortable and yet to start the day's hunt training; two; that, given this was, in fact, how his day was currently going, perhaps a sudden lightning strike would spare him from additional frustrations; or, three, and perhaps more fervently hoped for of all; that Rando and Aozora would calm their feathery little tails down and take the hunt seriously.

The two Utahraptor younglings had yet to learn how to hunt properly themselves beyond some large insects and the occasional scavenging of meat scraps left by other hunters. While they were attentive enough listeners when it came to his instructions, they could not seem to keep their focus on any one thing for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Pushing himself to his feet, Arlex walked up beside Rando and Aozora and used his muzzle to nudge the two apart before Aozora's joyfully snapping jaws could remove too many of Rando's tail feathers. “Come on, guys,” he said quietly. “This isn't going to help you learn how to hunt.”

Aozora snorted at his brother in faux irritation, then told Arlex, “He started it, just so you know.”

Arlex rolled his eyes. “Yes, I saw that. I was watching the whole time. He definitely started it. You know, what with the fact that he was sniffing the ground for tracks, learning to hunt... and you snuck up on him.”

“Um...” Aozora blinked. “Anyway! What now, Arlex?”

Grinning slightly, Rando opened his mouth and moved to nip at Aozora's haunch, before catching Arlex's expression from the corner of his eye. Rando's jaws snapped shut. “Er, right. Hunting!”

Arlex chose to examine the ground, as it seemed the most productive thing to do just then. Groaning aloud in frustration would not help matters, after all. “Okay, you two, as I was saying... find a series of tracks, like these faint marks in the ground here. You can tell from the depth of the impressions that the dinosaur who made them really wasn't that heavy, so nothing like an Ampelosaurus, or even an Atsinganosaurus. Much too light. Those two species would make something like.... this...” While he spoke, he set one foot on unmarked bare ground and pressed hard until he had made a print of approximately the depth you would commonly see from the species he had just mentioned, albeit slightly too shallow; even at full press, his foot lacked the strength to emulate the prints of those Titanosauruses. While he did this, he explained to the brothers how the different depths of such prints could help you to judge the weight of your potential prey. No hunter would want to go after a Bradycneme, for instance, and find themselves facing his own species, Meraxes gigas, which left similar prints to a Bradycnemes or even to those of a Utahraptor, but larger and much heavier. He continued, “You should also pay attention to whether two or four sets of paws made the marks when you are trying to figure out what you're on the trail of, though keep in mind that some species, like our Parasaurolophus friends, walk on both their hind and four legs, whichever they feel like.”

"What about those deeper ones over there?" Aozora asked.

"The ones I steered you away from?" Arlex questioned. "Those are Acanthopholis marks. You can tell because of the depth of the tread and the blunt claw marks in the dirt."

"Well, why can't we hunt that?" Rando wondered.

Arlex frowned, imagining that confrontation. It was not a pretty thought. "Do you two know what an Acanthopholis is?"

Aozora nodded. "Yeah. Smallish. Kinda spikey. Tastes good! Our pack brought one home a while ago."

"Yes," Arlex confirmed pointedly. "Your pack, of adult hunters. Not just you two. You're still learning. I'm not sending you up against an Acanthopholis as your first real hunt." The Acanthopholis, though around the same size as an adult as were the half-way grown Rando and Aozora, was a formidable herbivore; a quadruped, it was also an ankylosaurian, covered in hard plates and sharp spikes all along its back and tail, with its more vulnerable underbelly being relatively close to the ground and protected by its short stature and method of defense, crouching low away from a predator and threatening the hunter with its spiked tail as it moved away. Should a hunter try, nonetheless, to take a bite out of an Acanthopholis, especially if the hunter was young and untrained, they were likely to get a mouthful of spikes - if not outright lose an eye.

Seeing that both Utahraptor younglings seemed to be somewhat discouraged by his words, Arlex added quickly, “But you'll be able to hunt all the Acanthopholises you want later on. You just need to get some training in, first.”

Rando nodded. “Alright. So... what are we hunting?” He looked back at the prints Arlex had initially indicated.

Encouraging the two to examine the prints up close, to learn their depth, length, and claw mark shapes, as well as any faint scent that may still cling to the depressions, Arlex explained, “These are almost certainly Betasuchus prints. It should be a good species for your hunt.”

Arlex knew less about Betasuchus than about other dinosaurs with which he had interacted – interacted whether through conversation or through hunting. Regardless, he knew that Betasuchus was relatively small, each being only slightly larger than Rando and Aozora, at around thirteen feet from muzzle to tail. Considerably smaller than Arlex, Betasuchuses tended to flee when he came into sight, but he had seen members of that species feeding on both plants and other dinosaurs, so he knew its diet was more diverse than either his or those of his herbivorous herdmates.

“Alright,” Aozora agreed, looking up at Arlex with bright, expectant eyes. “So what do we do now?”

Arlex led the two younglings in the trail of tracks left by their quarry as the three hunters moved through the forest. While Aozora and Rando were clearly trying to follow the trail – and were showing some natural aptitude for tracking, in fact – they were not the most subtle of hunters.

They spent some time questioning Arlex about various things they saw, such as other tracks and to what they belonged; how to tell what species an animal was from its scat (that in particular seemed to amuse the two young males); what the biggest prey Arlex had hunted was; what his favorite prey was; had he ever been hurt by prey during a hunt... was staying upwind really that important? What if the wind changed direction? Was he sure that being quiet was necessary on a hunt? Prey animals could not tell by their voices that they were predators, after all. What? The prey would look over at the sound and see that they were predators? Was he sure? Lots of dinosaurs were shaped the same, so from a distance, could the prey really tell? And no, neither of them was buying the claim that Arlex would drop them into the nearest ocean for a Mosasaurus to munch on.

He certainly did not mind answering their hunting questions, or any other questions, in fact... but perhaps while actually being on a hunt was not the best time.

Regardless, as the tracks they followed grew more distinct, more recent, the brothers settled down. Arlex quietly led the way, ducking beneath a low hanging branch and curving his way around a thick bush and... there! Near a cluster of trees, an adult female Betasuchus was crouched with her muzzle dipped into a small pond, her long tongue scooping up mouthfuls of water.

Shooting a glance back at the brothers, Arlex dropped back to crouch beside them. “Alright, Rando, Aozora, let's see how you two do.”

Rando blinked. “You mean, you're not gonna help?”

“I'll be right here,” Arlex promised. “But you need to learn how to hunt together, right? If anything goes wrong and you two are in danger, I'll step in. But before I can help you learn how to hunt, I have to get some idea of how you hunt now. You know?”

Aozora straightened and nodded. Speaking too softly to be heard by the Betasuchus, he said, “Got it, Arlex. We can do it.” Glancing at his brother, Aozora said, “Come on, Ran'. We can do this.” He then glanced at Arlex as though waiting for approval, and once Arlex nodded, Aozora slipped out from behind the bush, Rando at his tail.

The two young Utahraptors did as they had seen Arlex do the day before, when they had watched him hunt the Bradycnemes. While the Betasuchus was busy, unaware as she drank her water, the two younglings crept closer, until they were a short distance from their prey. They then abruptly rushed forward, startling their prey with their approach, though by then, they were almost on her. The Betasuchus lifted her head in alarm, looking back over her shoulder before moving to run, but Aozora slammed into her side.

The over-eager youngling overshot, however, and as his jaws moved to lock around the Betasuchus' neck, his hind legs slipped out from under him and his tail thrashed for balance.

Rando, just behind his brother, managed to leap over the thrashing tail and land with his hind feet on the Betasuchus' side, but before he could latch on with either his fangs or the killing claw on his second toe of both hind feet, a signature weapon of his species, the Betasuchus twisted free of both brothers. Yanking away, she knocked Rando off of her side, and the brown Utahraptor tumbled down, landing on top of the still unbalanced Aozora.

Rando and Aozora fell to the ground in a tangle of legs and heads and tails, thrashing, squirming, wiggling for balance. Taking the opportunity, the Betasuchus bolted away, sprinting off through the high grass and disappearing among the trees.

Half expecting them to be upset with their failed hunt, Arlex was both amused and exasperated to see the opposite was true. Still tangled up together, working to extricate themselves and regain their feet, Rando broke through the growls of effort to teasingly say, “Way to go, Aozora, you almost conked me with your tail!”

“My tail?” Aozora answered with a laugh. “How about the fact you fell on top of me, you feathery lump!”

The both of them burst out laughing, finally managing to untangle themselves, only to remain laying on the ground as amusement shook their bodies.

A bit away from the laughing brothers, Arlex sighed. He turned toward the nearest tree and softly thumped the crown of his head into the bark. Leaning against the tree, he slowly shook his head.

---

Later in the day, after dawn had long since come and the sky was clear and blue, Arlex and his two pupils were crouched at the edge of the woods. With careful instruction from Arlex – and with repeated redirection for the playful pair of younglings – the two Utahraptors had managed to take what Arlex had taught them to track down the members of another herd of prey.

Now, they were watching a small herd of Arenysauruses feed on water-plants near the lake. The herd animals were part of the hadrosaur group; dinosaurs with a crest that walked on the toes of their front paws and could walk either on all four paws or only their hind paws. They appeared somewhat like a Parasaurolophus, with a similar body shape and also sporting a cranial crest, though the shape of said crest was quite different than those found on the hunters' herdmates. This crest was placed on the crown of Arenysauruses' heads, and did not extend back past the skull.

Although superficially similar to Parasaurolophuses, these Arenysauruses were different. Many species that roamed these lands were similar to a Parasaurolophus. While Arlex, Rando, and Aozora would never hunt a member of their herdmates' species, they would be hard pressed to hunt only dinosaurs which bore no resemblance to the species of their friends.

While Arlex, hidden as he was along the tree edge, would usually approach this hunt by sneaking as close as he could to the prey and then running them down, he believed that the brothers should lead their first hunt with as little direct help from him as possible, so he would not be physically aiding them in the hunt. They deserved the pride of their first real catch, and if they missed again, they could just try again tomorrow – Arlex would catch them something to keep them satisfied for the day, if that became necessary.

“Alright, guys,” Arlex said, as they crouched near the edge of the treeline. “When you are ready, try to rush one of them... it is bigger than you, so go for its belly and throat, avoid its tail and claws. If it starts to get away, try to disable it by biting at its legs.” The advice he gave here was similar to what his own parents had told him when he was learning how to hunt. It was the type of hunting style that best utilized the speed, weight, and physical power of a Meraxes gigas, although he had left out some aspects of what he had been taught that he did not think could apply to the brothers, as they were hunting something larger than themselves. They could likely not, for example, grab their prey by the neck and shove it sideways, rolling it onto its side.

The two young Utahraptors fidgeted where they were, as if they were about to rush forward as he had advised, but then Aozora suddenly spoke, “Actually... Arlex... could you wait here, please? I feel like...” He paused, concentrating. “I feel like we need to try something else.”

Cocking his head, Arlex nodded, a bit cautiously. “Al...right. But be careful. Hunts can be dangerous for the hunter, as well.”

Clearly on the same wavelength as his brother, perhaps feeling the same instincts that seemed to be driving Aozora's hunting plans, Rando nodded and said, “We'll be right back.”

Swiftly, yet with impressive stealth, the two young Utahraptors crept out from the treeline, sticking to high tufts of grass as they crept closer to the herd of prey. Arlex was able to track their motions only because he had seen where they had entered the tall grass, and could follow the slight movements of the plant stalks. He saw the movement cease alongside a boulder that was placed relatively close to the Arenysauruses, and realized that the two brothers seemed to be waiting where they stood, shielded from sight by both the tall grass and the boulder.

Minutes passed without movement from the brothers, and Arlex was starting to grow concerned as well as puzzled. What was their plan? Was everything alright with them? They were not exactly the types to stay still for any length of time. He stayed where he was, however, because the last thing he wanted to do was alert the younglings' potential prey.

Finally, an Arenysaurus, an older male by the looks of him, wandered closer to the boulder, apparently seeking a particular type of plant in that section of grass. Arlex realized what the brothers' plan was just before they put it into effect, with both young Utahraptors suddenly launching themselves from hiding. As they had with the last hunt, the failed hunt, Aozora clamped his jaws around the throat of their prey, but this time, he did not slip. He had not approached their prey at a run, and his talons stayed steady on the ground. The Arenysaurus male let out a choked sound of terror, his call muffled by the pressure of Aozora's jaws.

Trying to pull away, the Arenysaurus reared onto his hind legs, thrashing his tail for balance, for defense. His movement forced Aozora to extend his body upward to continue clinging with his bite, and Rando jumped to his brother's aid. Springing onto the prey's side, Rando bit down on its back, using his teeth to anchor the rest of his body. While the Arenysaurus was stunned and partially incapacitated by Aozora's throat bite, his air cut off, Rando used both of his hind feet with their massive killing claws to swipe down their prey's side and stomach in one quick motion. Instantly, their prey collapsed, and both Utahraptors fell on top of him, quickly finishing their prey with a dual bite to the neck.

Not far from the quick, efficient takedown, the rest of the Arenysaurus herd fled as one, sending a mixture of alarmed and regretful looks back at their fallen herd member. While that part of the experience was always one that Arlex found unfortunate, the need to take away from others someone they cared about, he was not apologetic about his need to eat. Right now, in fact, he was feeling extremely proud of the two younglings.

Stepping from the treeline, approaching the two young hunters, he saw Aozora and Rando step away from their prey, noticeably panting, their eyes shining with excitement, with the thrill of success.

“We did it, Arlex!” Aozora crowed. “We did it!”

“Yes, you did!” Arlex agreed, grinning. “Well done! You both did so well. I wasn't expecting you to set an ambush.”

Rando shrugged slightly. “Chasing works for you, Arlex, but... for us, ambush just... felt right.” The young Utahraptor let out a sudden sharp sound, part roar, part screech. “Aozora, look what we caught, bro!”

“Yes!” Overcome with energy and delight, Aozora flung himself onto Rando, and the two of them went down in a bundle of playful snapping and careful clawing.

Arlex watched them play until they broke apart, panting, and turned back to their prey. “Come on, Arlex! Let's eat!” Rando encouraged.

Arlex took a step forward. He'd eat some, but he would leave the majority of the catch to the proud hunters.

After the three of them had fed, they, in part for the comfort of their herbivorous herdmates, though also just to keep clean, to keep the bugs away, and get a drink, had dipped their muzzles into the nearby lake to clear off the worst of the blood from their faces. Then they turned to head back home to their herd.

The brothers would still need training, learning, and practice. But they were well on their way, as far as Arlex was concerned.

...Assuming, of course, that they could stay on track during their next hunts.