A Walk and a Chase

It was a pleasant day. Not too warm, especially in the shade, sunny, and with a light breeze that rustled the leaves in the canopy overhead. Honeydew lay comfortably in a hollow deep in the woods, idly listening to the birds call and other noises of the forest. She had recently found this spot, and it suited her nicely, the depression an almost perfect size and shape to fit her massive bulk. Even better, she'd caught sight of a few meadows and game trails earlier, so a meal was likely never far away.

In fact, she thought with a stretch and a huge, gaping yawn, perhaps it was time to go investigate some of those. She wasn't hungry now, of course, but exploration and searching of new hunting grounds was best done without the distraction of an empty stomach, anyway. So she shifted from side to side, positioning her feet underneath her before pushing upward, strong legs lifting her considered bulk. She shook herself, jostling loose some of the leaves and dirt that clung to her feathery coat, then started onward through the forest.

She moved slowly, almost lazily. There was no particular hurry, and Honeydew realized there was value in getting to know the lay of the land, if she intended to possibly claim it as her territory. It was far better to find hidden gullies when she wasn't in the middle of pursuing prey, after all. Not that she would let that stop her, of course, but it would certainly be an inconvenience to deal with.

So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Small animals and birds that scurried out of the way of the acrocanthosaurus's path. What might be a game trail or two weaving through the trees. Some signs that others had passed through at some point, perhaps, but nothing recent. And, of course, countless, ancient-looking trees and their attendant mosses, lichens, and assorted undergrowth.

“Yeargh!”

Honeydew paused in her tracks when she heard the shout. It was faint, too faint for the words that followed to be intelligible, but it clearly had not been made by any creature of the woods. Which could only mean one thing: someone else was here. Probably more than one someone, at that. Narrowing her eyes, Honeydew glared in the direction the sound had come from. This wouldn't do, no, this wouldn't do at all. She may have only just ventured into these woods yesterday, but as far as she was concerned, any place she occupied first was hers, and she wouldn't tolerate intruders.

She started off in the direction of the shout. Cautiously, because while the thought of simply charging in and hopefully scaring the intruders off did cross her mind, she wanted to at least see what she was dealing with, first. After all, some rivals might need to be dealt with in a more direct sort of fashion than simply being run off. And so the acrocanthosaurus picked her way along, moving steadily, but doing her best to stay quiet despite her massive bulk.

It was slow going, but once fixed on an idea, Honeydew was nothing if not persistent. Even when she heard nothing further to confirm she was even going in the right direction, she still pressed steadily onward. And eventually, her persistence was rewarded, when she started seeing occasional broken branches and trampled undergrowth, sure signs of someone else's passage. What was more, it wasn't long before she noticed some sort of animal trail passing in the same direction; now she knew she was almost certainly on the right track.

Soon enough after that, she spotted them up ahead. It was a pair of albertosaurs. One was dark gray and browns with a red back covered in quills, the other was pale peach and gold with dark blue patches across his feathered back. And while two would certainly be a bit of a challenge, she was still much bigger than either, and here amongst the trees they would have difficulty teaming up against her. Besides, if she could get close enough, perhaps she could even take one out with an ambush before either could properly react. Which more than even the odds, would put them solidly in her favor.

Yes, Honeydew decided she liked that plan... But no sooner had she thought of it, than the pale and blue albertosaurus suddenly stopped in his tracks. Quickly, she crouched, holding herself still and low to the ground, hoping to go unnoticed between the trees and the undergrowth.

Both albertosaurs had now stopped and were looking around, clearly suspicious. After one moment stretched into another, however, they still showed no sign of having spotted their stalker.

“Notice something?” The dark and red one was the first to speak up, to which the other snorted and shook himself.

“Guess not. Maybe a branch fell or something.”

With that they resumed their trek, still following the animal trail. Honeydew remained frozen in place until they'd passed on out of sight, then finally, slowly stood. It had been a near miss, but it wasn't nearly enough to deter her. She just resolved to keep a greater distance now, trailing after and waiting for a more opportune time to close the gap. For that matter, perhaps if she was both careful and lucky, the obviously hunting pair would even make a kill, at which point she could swoop down on them and both drive them off and acquire an easy meal for herself.

Yes, she liked that plan, and the mere thought of it kept her focused. She trailed behind the two albertosaurs as far back as she could, doing her best not to do anything that would give away her presence. It wasn't long, in fact, before she caught sight of them again, standing at the edge of a meadow. Honeydew crept closer, taking advantage of the clear distraction, then froze again when the two started heading back into the woods.

Once again she crouched, doing her best impression of just another old moss and lichen-covered snag, but the thinner trees here near the edge of the meadow offered less cover. More undergrowth, perhaps, but fewer of the immense, looming trunks that made up the deeper woods. When once again the pale and blue albertosaurus stopped and started looking around, Honeydew stayed perfectly still. Or tried to, at least; unfortunately as she hadn't had time to hide herself properly, the spot she was crouching on was less than ideal, one foot on a slope that it was starting to slowly slide down. Carefully, slowly, she shifted her weight to the other, then waited for a moment when the albertosaurs were both looking somewhere other than her to cautiously move that foot so that she wouldn't topple over—

“Ben, look there,” the pale and blue albertosaurus was pointing right at her, and soon both of them were starting to back away.

Well, that was fine, Honeydew was getting a little tired of all this sneaking around anyway. Abruptly she heaved herself to her feet, roaring as she rose to her full stature and fluffed out her thick feathers to add to her apparent size. She lunged forward with her jaws wide, aiming to strike at least one of them before they could react or put any more distance between them.

Unfortunately, they were a little too quick to react, wasting no time in scrambling backwards and turning to flee before the charging maw of near-certain doom could reach them. Honeydew pursued, shaking the ground with her every step as she crashed through the forest. She had a certain advantage, being the pursuer on such difficult terrain, as the pair she was chasing would doubtless be more likely to trip over hidden hazards, while she would have clear warning if she saw one of them stumble. All she had to do was close the gap, and she would be in an almost perfect position to strike. It was just more strenuous than sneaking up on them, was all.

So she chased them through the woods, as branches snapped and undergrowth trampled with her passage. Sometimes she gained, sometimes the albertosaurs pulled ahead, but always she remained hot on their tails. It might come down to endurance, or who made a mistake first, but time likely favored her over them.

At least until they started shouting at each other. Honeydew could barely hear the words over the combined crashing and thumping, not that she paid it any mind anyway. What mattered, however, were the results: suddenly the two albertosaurs split up, each veering off in a different direction. There was no time to think, even a moment's hesitation could cost her the chase, so she pivoted without thinking and kept running.

It was the pale and blue one she ended up following. The albertosaurus continued to run frantically onward, and the acrocanthosaurus continued to pursue. If anything, Honeydew was more determined than ever, knowing there was always a chance of the other albertosaurus somehow managing to follow and catch up, or otherwise catch her by surprise.

Not that the one she was chasing now was making it easy for her. He'd started to weave back and forth, abruptly veering in on direction and then another. Whether by chance or design, his path took him through narrow gaps between the trees, forcing Honeydew to barrel through or dodge around to a space big enough for her to pass. At the same time though, those tricks clearly took their toll, occasionally slowing her quarry down almost just as much as they might give him any lead.

Soon that was about to change, however, as the trees began to thin, light shining in gaps ahead to show that they were rapidly approaching the edge of the forest, for better or worse. Depending on just where they emerged, while there was a chance the albertosaurus could get away, it was also possible he'd be caught with nowhere safe to go. Either way, Honeydew pushed herself harder than ever, thundering out of the woods just behind him.

They'd emerged onto a steep mountainside, a narrow stretch of rock and thin soil quickly giving way to a steep slope. Honeydew had to abruptly pivot just to avoid tumbling over the edge herself, but it did at least mean there was nowhere for the fleeing albertosaurus to go.

Or so she thought. There was a shout from somewhere up ahead. Up ahead, and yet somehow down, from the sound of it. Sparing a quick glance, Honeydew spotted the other albertosaurus, the dark and red one, standing precariously on a narrow ledge partway down the steep slope. Almost as soon as she saw him, though, the one she'd been chasing practically leaped over the edge, sliding down that slope to land heavily on the ledge. She skidded to a stop just above, watching as both albertosaurs carefully but hurriedly moved back along their narrow ledge, even as some of it crumbled and tumble down and way behind them.

This certainly complicated things. That ledge was certainly tricky enough for just the albertosaurs to navigate it, let alone something much bigger than them. Not to mention, there was no guarantee it would accept the weight of an acrocanthosaurus, given the way the end of it had broken. Honey walked along the upper edge of the slope, casting a glance down it. No, it was much too steep and much to deep to risk jumping. If she fell, there was a good chance she wouldn't even survive, let alone come out unscathed. A fact which undoubtedly spoke to how desperate that albertosaurus had been to make the jump himself, but that was a cold comfort to Honeydew.

Instead she continued to stalk along the upper edge of the slope, looking here and there for any safer path down. When it became apparent there were none to be found, she stopped to roar her anger—and a threat for what would happen if they ever crossed her path again—at the two albertosaurs, then turned and stalked back into the forest herself. She was tired, and now both hungry and thirsty after that run. She would just have to take satisfaction in knowing the pair were know better off... and that she'd just given them the fright of their lives.