Birds and Rats (Part 1)- Strangers

Early dawn was like the loud ringing of an alarm to many creatures across the pair of islands. The sunbeams curled down from the sky, nudging sleeping creatures awake with its gentle warmth. All across the islands creatures stirred, birds stretching their wings and taking flight to spread their song across the islands.

Hidden in their burrow, three very big, flightless birds stirred. Opening up bright eyes, the oldest of the group stood up first after shaking off the tangled limbs wrapped around him. Egret stood, quickly shoving his way out of the burrow before scenting the air. His white and pink colors resembled the dawn sky itself, something which his red eyes were scanning alertly. Opening his mouth Egret let out his own “song”- although a screech would be a better way to describe it- in an attempt to wake his companions.

The second oldest member of the trio soon squeezed his way out, his green eyes annoyed. “Hey, leaf-muncher.” Trico snarled, baring his teeth, his crest raising straight up in agitation. His tri-colored feathers bristled in agitation, making him appear even larger. “Keep it down, or your going to wake up-”

A high pitched shriek cut off his sentence, and both of the males winced. Scrambling out of the den was their youngest member, the bratty hatchling and only female in the temporary group. “Keep it down!” Hoarfrost trilled angrily, lashing her brown and black tipped tail. Her whole feathery hide was almost completely coated in snow white, with a few brown dapples on her back and patches on her snout and front talons. Her pale blue eyes were practically burning in fury as she looked up at the two older utahraptors who towered over her. “I was having a really good dream, and now its gone!” At the end of the sentence she burst into sobs, little body shaking in a mix of fury and sadness. Trico and Egret sighed. Still being so young and as a product of her rough past, Hoarfrost was very emotionally fragile. The smallest thing would make her burst out into a tantrum. 

Gently Trico nudged her, stopping her crying as she let out a squeak of surprise as she face planted into the ground. “We’ll, we’re all awake now.” He grumped. “What’s your plan, Egret? We need to find a new food source- we’ve been eating nothing but scraps for the last few days.” 

Egret puffed his feathers out, lacking the crest that Trico had but still able to make himself seem larger. “We need to move, and it's best to do it before anything else wakes up.” He explained, confidence oozing out of every part of him. “I was thinking we could go up there.” The dawny male pointed with his nose up towards the large, towering mountain that sprawled across the middle of the island. 

Trico looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but Hoarfrost was already jumping forward. “I want to climb! I'm the best at climbing!” She squeaked, tears gone like they had never happened. 

Trico sighed, before casting a long glance over his shoulder. “Maybe it's for the best… they won’t be able to follow us up there.” He said wearily, his voice becoming darker at the mention of them. Egret felt his own gaze darken, although Hoarfrost seemed unaware as she bragged more about how she could climb a mountain in her sleep. 

“Lets get going then.” Egret led the way into the highland mountains, tail raised high behind him. Trico followed behind, letting out a chirp to catch the attention of Hoarfrost who scrambled to catch up as they made their way towards higher ground.

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The sun was halfway through the sky, and Trico was regretting ever listening to Egret. They had approached the largest mountain on the islands, reaching high into the sky. The sides were extremely steep and made of large, slick rocks. Occasionally there was evidence of past landslides, leaving Trico to wonder how many creatures had died trying to climb their way up the unforgiving cliffs. Egret had tried to lead them up a path he swore would work, but only ended up falling off of his rock and bruising his leg (and pride). Now, the three were making their way around the side of the mountain, peering up in hopes of finding some kind of narrow passageway in order to make their way up. So far, they had not found anything that looked safe enough to get up to, or anything that was even reachable in the first place.

Frustrated, Egret snarled, attempting to brute force his way up to what seemed to be a path before, predictably, falling. Landing on his side with a loud sound, he groaned in pain. Laughter filled the air- laughter that was very clearly not produced by a utahraptor. Whirling around defensively, Trico quickly jumped forward, crouching defensively over Egret with a growl. Hoarfrost scrambled behind them with a panicked chirp, hiding her head in Egrets feathers.

Up on the rocks above them was a large Tropeognathus, the loud clacking laughs coming from its beak. Its hide was a mix of warm shades and black, with dark spots scattering all over her hide. She continued to laugh as she watched their reaction, not showing a sign of fear as she observed their reactions. 

“Daybreak!” An angry voice snapped, another Tropeognathus landing on a rock next to the first one and almost causing them to lose balance. “What are you doing?” The new Tropeognathus was a dark gray in color, splattered in black blotches and with angry yellow eyes. 

“Aw, come on Inkblotch.” The now dubbed Daybreak defended herself, raising her wings into the air and hovering midair. “They keep trying to climb and failing! It's hilarious! Who said Utahraptors always landed on their feet?”

Inkblotch sighed, before turning to slightly less spooked raptors. “I’m sorry for my companion. Are you attempting to find your way up the mountain?”

Trico stepped forward, wings carefully flared to attempt to hide the two behind him- regardless of how hopeless it was. “We are.” He confirmed hesitantly, not quite trusting the two. “What about it?” From behind him Hoarfrost poked her head out, fear seemingly vanished. Trico shoved a wing on top of her, keeping her from going any further. From behind his wing he could hear a very squeak no fair but it was easily muffled.

The Tropeognathus’s eyes glittered with something Trico couldn’t identify, before she turned to face Daybreak. Something seemed to silently passed between them, before Daybreak nodded seriously. Inkblock turned back to them. “Here’s an offer for you. We will help you get to a path leading upwards on the mountain, and even lead you up to where you want to go.” The Tropeognathus suddenly flew forward, causing Trico to flinch back as she got up in his face. With her wings spread she looked huge, easily as big as him. “However. In return.” she clacked her beak. “We will need your help with something- something that we cannot do, but you can.” Inkblotch eyed the sharp claws of the raptors, before suddenly backing up. “So, do we have a deal?” She asked, much more casually.

Trico looked at Egret, an unspoken message passed between them as Hoarfrost tried to mimic it, not fully understanding what was going on. Trico wanted to press for more answers, to find out what they wanted from them, but it was clear from the gray fliers denomer she would not give an answer easily. He feared if they pressed too much, they would lose their once chance to safely find a way up. Egret lowly nodded, before the two turned back to the pair of flying reptiles. 

“Fine.” Egret hissed slowly. “We agree.” HIs tail lashed behind him, stirring up debris and almost knocking Hoarfrost over. 

Trico quickly swooped in and picked the hatchling up, who quickly began to spit and hiss. “Trico! Let me go! I can walk on my own, I'm big!” However, a quick glance from Trico quickly had her pipe down, seemingly realizing the seriousness of the situation. 

“Lead the way.” Egret took the lead position once more, and the two Tropeognathus rose into the air. Trico silently hoped that this wasn't a huge mistake.