Seven Days Before....
Having the advantage of the flatlands after clearing the forest is the greatest feeling of being a carnivore. It makes things easier to hunt.
Scent, Track, Hunt, Kill.
My four rules to being me. And it's fairly simple.
I sniffed a nearby heap of dung, which was awfully smelly to me, but nonetheless, sunk in the deep dark chemical stench of a fleshy herbivore to the back of my mind, fresh in its tracks, and not far from the position I was standing in. I closed my eyes, then sniffed the air with the same feeling locked in, tracking it down without the use of feet. And with a satisfied smile upon my findings, I exhale.
"There," I pointed with my tail to the north of us, where in the distance, a group of large herbivores grazed in the tall lush grasses of the plains, "it's a small family. Two adults, but no young ones to catch." Behind me, I could hear Blackclaw grumble. Hunting a grown creature is tougher, and requires more speed and strength, which we all lack above all. He stood up, using his tail as a balance to stare over the tall grass. Blackclaw was the sight of the pack or the leader in some cases, but he kept us together, situated, focused. A strategy was the key to the game for feline and mouse.
"It's not a far walk, but it's also a dangerous one," He stated as he lowered back down, "There's not a lot of camouflage to blend in," then he turned to me and clicked, "especially for you."
"Guess it's the old-fashioned way then," Sky remarked with sarcastic joys. I tested the wind for a second while the group chatted, making sure that we were in a good area to strike. The airbrushed against me, flowing backward among the plentiful leaves as it hurtled towards a cliffside beach a few miles away from where we lived.
"Wind's blowing east, so it won't be able to smell us."
"Good," Blackclaw dipped his head, flexing his toe-claws excitingly, "Let's go."
His black body vanished into the tall grass in mere seconds. I tended to follow behind curiously, watching his every slick move as he waved like the grass that flowed from above to blend in as best as possible. I tasted the air again with an expansion of my nostrils as we moved through the flatlands, and another strong aroma of a herbivore cleared up my mind and opened up a picture as to what it was. Possibly yellow? Tall? And somewhat weak in fighting.
The perfect prey to kill.
Then Blackclaw froze. I turned around, noticing that our other pack members vanished to the right and left of us. It was one of our plans at play; circling.
Perhaps the easiest plan out of our others. To tell you the truth, jumping from a tree limb or chasing prey through a thick forest is like the definition of killing yourself.
"You guys ready?" Blackclaw hissed in the brustiles of the wheat-scented area. Before us was a huge yellow Tenontosaurus, just as I had pictured, its large beak munching down upon some strange colorful plants that I couldn't recognize. I wasn't a plant-eater, so it didn't matter what he ate. It's what we were about to eat. Amberclaw stood next to my position with Brownclaw, Blackclaw in front of me though, while in front of the huge beast on the opposing side was Razorclaw and Sky. The air felt quiet and peaceful at that moment, a strange uttering silence, the ones that make something vulnerable nervous. Only the tweets of some nearby birds and the rushing wind from the east floated melodiously through the flatlands, and through our bodies.
I grew a bit tense and twitched my claves, teeth chattered a bit and claws lushing for the spilling of crimson red.
"Stay down a bit," Brownclaw warned suddenly, "You're albino, he could see you behind here if you're too high."
"Sorry," I rolled my eyes, "Not my fault that I was built this way-"
"Don't blame mom and dad for how you are now," Brownclaw smirked, "Although in some cases-"
"Perhaps its not the best time," I chuckled a bit, shaking my head.
"Whiteclaw," Blackclaw muttered to me in a faint voice, "You got the longer claws and teeth, so go for the neck while we pull it down. Got it?"
"The neck?"
The neck is one of the hardest spots to kill a prey, especially for a raptor. If it sees me, I'm done for. Perhaps even with my slim, partially strong jaws, it won't be able to puncture that deep of a wound to kill it in seconds.
"Got it?" Blackclaw repeated, clicking through his fangs.
"Yeah," I smiled, almost tasting the fresh meat before it was ever exposed, "I got it." Blackclaw then flicked his tail in a waving motion. A signaling to the other side. A few moments passed by where I thought they hadn't seen the first symbol. Before I could say any more, the Tenontosaurus screeched in horror to its right side, turning its entire hind towards us.
Sky and Razorclaw have attacked!
"Now guys!" Blackclaw growled as he raced out into the open. I ran out too, outrunning my pack to go 2nd behind my brother Blackclaw. With a large leap, he jerked his entire lightweight body forwards onto the hide of the dinosaur. His claws came next, raking a perfect three-lined strike to the flesh. The dino screeched, spinning around and thumping his paws hard enough to shake the earth beneath my own foot claws.
Then it was my turn to do the damage.
But I had to go for the neck when the Tenontosaurus wasn't realizing.
With a lunge, my claws caught onto the dino's skin, holding me up, and soon enough, I was on the back of the wriggling prey. My sickled claw stabbed deep into the rigid flesh, blood bubbling upon its black surface, then dragged down to move a bit further as the prey strangled harder. To be honest, it felt worse trying to stand on two feet on a quaking back than to balance on a tree branch during a windy storm. My arms came down to hold on as the world spun, jumped, then wobbled.
"Go for the neck!" Blackclaw cried again. I saw the dinosaur swish its tail hard, hitting Razorclaw square in the chest. His body flew into the tall dry grass, vanishing in seconds.
I'm sure that hurt bad enough.
Following my brother's demands, I scurried up to the back of the neck and head of the Tenontosaurus. But I didn't know how smart it was until a few moments later. It felt my claws penetrate its flesh, and with a vicious yank, threw me off balance. My stomach lurched hard as my foot claws slipped from underneath me, but to stay on top, my instincts took over, and my hand claws snagged into the Tenontosaurus's neck, keeping me up and away from ground level. Go for the neck! My brother's voice repeated in my head again, reminding me of the task I needed to accomplish. I slipped down the dinosaur's side neck, and towards the underneath neck, while it strained to catch me with its paws.
Out the corner of my eye, I spotted Amberclaw nearby on his top neck, watching me as he kept the dinosaur distracted by sending short nibbles on his side. And finally, I delivered the blow with my jaws.
My razor sharp teeth penetrated its under-neck skin and throat, and just sank deeper and deeper until I felt something circular with my teeth, its throat. I dug deeper with my jaws until finally, it busted through. The dinosaur's eyes went wide with pain, and in agony, lifted up on its hind legs.
And that's when the horror began.
My eyes went wide as the ground began to lower from my perspective. Though I was still latched to the dinosaur's neck with both feet and claws, I felt like I wasn't grasping onto anything, especially on the way back down. The paws of the Tenontosaurus slammed hard into the earth, cracking lines that carved its way through the dust. The jolt shook me and Amberclaw off of the Tenontosaurus violently, and my Deinonychus white body crashed hard into the trembled earth, spine first. Pain erupted in my back as I laid upon it, and I felt completely stunned and dazed from the impact. It was only then when it locked eyes with my entire body and Amberclaw's. When you're a predator smaller than your prey, and you've been seen, it's almost game over for you.
And it was then when it decided to go for Amberclaw rather than me.
Amberclaw laid there on his side, desperately trying to slide back as the Tenontosaurus slowly advanced towards my packmate. The one thing I knew that made this prey dangerous was it's one, blade-like thumb claw that separated from its other fingers. And it was raised up for its first positive strike.
"Amberclaw run!" I screeched out to him, "Run!"
But alas, he couldn't get away all the way. He seemed paralyzed by its tremendous strength and towering height above all. He wasn't even going fast enough to the safety of the grass.
Without thinking, I scrambled to my clawed feet and dashed to his position, and seconds later, knocked him out of his trance with the beast using my tail. But despite all of that heroism, I wasn't ready for the downfall of the prey's claw. In defense, or just because I couldn't do anything else, I lunged out to attack but was met with the sword in the paw. A split second later, the paw struck my skull, dragging downwards to my leg, and my body thumped like a rag doll into the dust.
The entire view of the left side of my vanished in one second.
I let out a shriek I clutched my face, then felt the weariness strike next. I couldn't explain how much pain I took in, but at first, it felt like a stick was rubbing against my scales, then erupted like liquid metal rushing through my every vein. That's when I smelled my own blood bubbling out my chest. The agonizing pain felt unbearable as I struggled to my feet, gripping my chest, but a bit off balance. My keen eyesight was clouding up, turning figures into blobs of colors. I saw Blackclaw's horrified nonplussed face from next to the Tenontosaurus, almost speechless and in regret.
"Whiteclaw!" He roared out, racing towards me before a large leg and paw crashed into his path. Amberclaw lunged back upon the herbivore, trying to take it down, but it obviously was still going for me. It was still going for the kill.
"Its alright guys," I groggily stated, stumbling backward, completely blind in vision, "I'm.....fine.....". Another back paw strike from the Tenontosaurus hit me square in the chest, and my body flung violently into the beach near a lakeside. The wind got knocked out of my lungs as I hit the earth again with my second crash, and my white scaled body flipped over in the dust. Next thing I knew, my head thudded onto a rock formation, and everything went black.