A Crocodile's Journey

Chapter 1

"DISPERSE!" one of the flock leaders cried out loudly.

Soon the flock erupted into chaos, struggling to fly in all directions trying to avoid the black objects, while a few did miss their targets, many shot more of the ibises out of the air. Hasnaa flapped her wings in panic, panting, trying to fly away from the scene, but before she knew, she was struck in the chest by one of the tiny black things.

The pain was like nothing she ever felt in her entire life. It felt as if time slowed down, and she felt all her organs slowly starting to shut down... But she fought to stay conscious, her maternal instinct gave her the strength to cling to dear life, and instead of dropping out of the sky like the other birds, she spread out her wings with a great effort, and it took an even greater amount to keep flapping them and keep herself in the air. However, her sense of direction started to fail her, and soon she found herself flying towards a different direction, away from the safety of the numerous flock, and out of the migratory route...

She had to find a safe place to lay her egg...

And hopefully, somebody to look after it.

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He knew the Dry Season had officially ended when he started to awaken.

Makuu let out a big yawn, showing his sharp row of teeth, and started to stretch himself out. The rest of his float soon joined him, awakening in their spots and stretching their own bodies to get the stiffness out of their bodies. However, Makuu did not yet move towards the entrance of the cave, he was waiting for someone else to awaken.

The female, slender crocodile he was staring at opened her lovely golden eyes just then, but she did not give a loud yawn to show her teeth, unlike the rest of the float. Instead, she gently groaned and shook the stiffness off her back. Once her vision adjusted to the lack of light, she noticed she was being stared at, and gave the perpetrator a half-annoyed, half-groggy stare.

"Could you stop staring at me like that? It's getting weird."

Makuu chuckled. "Can you blame me? We slept a whole season and I missed you."

"You talk much for having technically gotten on top of me in your sleep."

Some of the other crocs stared at the scene and internally chuckled. That was their Akina. She was feisty, rebellious and wild-spirited, and yet their leader loved her like mad (and was a bit scared of her temper at the same time, though he would never admit it outloud).

Makuu felt his stomach growling, but he correctly guessed he wasn't the only one. The first thing the crocs wanted to do after awakening from hibernation was to eat after months of sleeping, but they had yet to go to Big Springs and see if there was enough fish for them.

"Okay, we'd better start moving if we want to eat soon!" he said, raising his voice so the float would hear him. "Let's go."

As the float walked out of the cave, it took their eyes a while to get adjusted to sunlight again after months of darkness. They could tell humidity was considerably higher than the last time they were outside, another sign the Wet Season had arrived. As they made their way towards Big Springs, Makuu wondered if Akina had already forgotten about the last thing they discussed before going into hibernation... She hadn't said anything about it, so perhaps she had, hopefully. He had promised he'd think about it, but the more he did, the more reason he had not to agree to it...

It wasn't long before they got to Big Springs, where the Hippos were resting or taking a dip in the water. Makuu reminded himself to mind his manners; while he managed to get back in good graces (if only slightly) with some of the other animals, he still had to keep his temper on check and prove he could be trusted now.