Bird and Rats 2

The loud sound of leathery flapping wings filled the air, the shadows from the two Tropeognathus casting shadows down on the trio below. Egret squinted up at them with a scowl on his face, shaking his short feathers out. Beside him Trico was nudging Hoarfrost onwards, the hatchling complaining but going along with it. “Are we almost there yet?” Egret called up to Daybreak and Inkblotch, scowling when he got no response. Typical. The pair of flyers had been leading them for over an hour around the edge of the mountain in search for a safe path to climb. They claimed they knew where they were going, but Egret couldn’t help but think that they really didn't. 

“Don’t worry.” Trico nudged against Egret, before nodding at the ground ahead. The slope was gradually getting flatter and less angled. “It looks like they know what they are talking about. We should be somewhere we can enter.” As if they had heard what was just said the two Tropeognathus suddenly dove down, landing on a large rock and a slightly flatter patch of earth with less rocks blocking its way then the others they had passed before. 

“Here we are!” Daybreak squawked as the trio got closer. “It's fairly narrow, but it should be big enough for you to fit in.” Hoarfrost was the first one to hop onto the trail, crouching down and observing the trail. The trail was made out of small, soft rocks that got caught beneath her claws and made her shake her claws out in annoyance. While annoying it did not seem to be harmful, although it could be a slipping hazard if they moved too fast.

Trico and Egret followed next, scrambling over the rocks that Hoarfrost was small enough to squeeze between. “You're lucky there hasn’t been a storm in a while.” Inkblotch clacked her beak loudly. “When the rocks get too wet, it becomes much harder to climb up. Whole paths get buried by rockslides, and the mountain can become untravelable for days! Unless you can fly, of course.”

“At least we had some good luck today.” Trico muttered, Egret and Hoarfrost huffing in agreement. “Where do we go from here? There seems to be… a lot more mountain.” They had only just made it onto the base of the mountain- there was so much more to go in order to get to the parts of it that help life.

Daybreak jumped into the air, hovering before them and poking at Hoarfrost. The hatchling attempted to pounce at the much larger carnivore playfully, only for Egret to grab her mid air by her tail. He did not trust the other duo enough to let the still naive hatchling play with them- she was easily small enough for them to swoop up and away, into the sky, never to be soon again. Egret clutched her tighter fearfully, only to startle and drop her as she yowled in protest. “Egret! Let me down!” Quickly he dropped her onto her ground, resulting in her instantly scrambling up the path. “Let's get moving! We’re wasting daylight.” The hatchling lashed her tail in excitement, running up the path without waiting for the other two's response.

“Hoarfrost! Wait!” Trico yelped, quickly scrambling after the hatchling, attempting in vain to get her to slow down as they scurried up. Egret scowled, casting one last untrusting glance at Inkblotch. The Tropeognathus watched him with eyes that he could not gauge the emotions of as he turned and ran after them. 

______________________________________________________________________________

The mountain terrain was rough and hard to travel, even on the path that they were traveling on. The winding trail was rocky and rough, stones grinding and scraping against their feet and often resulting in quick stops to shake them off. Above the heads of the utahraptors the Tropeognathus hovered, staying a good distance away and observing the ahead paths.

“This way!” Daybreak barked, landing on a steep rock pile that seemingly lead to a different path as the one they were on. 

“Why do we need to climb this?” Trico walked up to the rocks curiously, Hoarfrost beside him already scrambling up the first one. He gently picked her up, ignoring her protests as he climbed the rest of the way up. 

“I can climb on my own.” The hatchling whined, then face planted the moment she was put down as if to reveal that no, she could not.

“The trail you were just on leads somewhere too narrow.” Inkblotch interjected as Egret finally made his way up, biting back a curse. “You wouldn’t have been able to fit past it. You’ll find a lot of paths like that here.”

Egret hissed to himself. Yeah, right. This was far from the first time the overgrown chickens had directed them away from an obvious path in order to climb what they claimed was a “safer way.” Maybe for bigger species, but they were utahraptors! They could get past anything, no problem.

Hoarfrost led the way ahead once again on this new path, despite Tricos attempts to keep her back. She would often attempt to pounce on boulders on the side of the trail, climbing up them with triumphant barks before jumping down to rejoin Egret and Trico. Thankfully the hatchling had enough sense to not try and climb boulders that were right on the edge of the cliff, but it still made the older utahraptors nervous. 

On such a narrow part of the mountain, there were few signs of life. Occasionally a lizard would skitter and crawl across the path, dodging Hoarfrosts attempts to pounce at it before disappearing as soon as it arrived. A bird or two passed by a well, quickly spooked off by their escorts, but overall, it was barren.

It was not long before the time came, again, to switch paths. Daybreak and Inkblotch alighted on the path ahead of them. “Down here.” Inkblotch clacked her beak, pointing to the path that went down the mountain. 

Egret suspiciously eyed the two, bristling. “You want us to go back down? The path ahead looks fine! We can’t afford to waste anymore time.” The sun would set in a few hours, and being left in the rockiest part of the mountains during night was not a good idea.

“The path ahead gets dangerous.” Daybreak warned in a harsh, shrieking voice, aggravating Egret more. “Do you really think you wingless can make it?” 

It was Hoarfrost who bristled this time. “We can do it.” She scowled. “We still have wings, even if we can’t fly like you.” She quickly turned and scampered off, continuing down the path. Trico seemed worried, giving a worried glance to the pair of flyers before following the hatchling down the path ahead. Egret followed with his head held high, purposely ignoring the looks the Tropeognathus were giving each other. Things would be fine. Right?

____________________________________________________________________________

Things were not fine. The path ahead had led to a very narrow passage, harsh rock on one side and open air on the other. Just on the other side, Egret could see a hint of green- the highlands were just past this passage.

Trico and Hoarfrost stood at the edge, concern clear in the movements. All of the hatchlings' bravery seemed to have vanished, with her hiding from the edge behind Trico as close to the wall as she could. To add to the unease, this close to the habitable part of the mountain was a lot of moisture. Fog filled the air, making it harder to see what was in front of them. Egret was unable to tell if the Tropeognathus pair was even around anymore, the fog muffling all sounds.

“I’ll go first.” Egret muttered, having just enough space to carefully scoot past Trico and Hoarfrost. Carefully he set across, leaning one wing against the stony wall and keeping his footsteps light. Every few steps would send a shower of rocks down into the foggy void below, forcing Egret to resist the urge to shudder. The passage was not long, but it still felt like it took hours before the path widened enough for him to feel safe.

Turning around, Egret could barely see the way that he had come from. He could just make out Egret in the fog, but little Hoarfrost was near impossible to see with her small size and nearly pure white feathers. Trico was the next to make his way across, likely wanting to make sure it was safe before letting Hoarfrost across. The only sound in the world was made by Trico’s soft footsteps, and the sound of small rocks clattering down to the ground far below. Trico had always been the most agile one, and made it across without much difficulty. He quickly turned around, letting out a bark to call for Hoarfrost to cross, before sagging against Egret. Hoarfrost was so small, surely she would be able to cross without an issue if they had.

Gradually, Egret and Trico watched Hoarfrosts pale form creep across, the small hatchling staying extremely close to the ground and looking around with fearful eyes. Everything seemed to be going fine, until she knocked her claw into a small pile of pebbles that was in her way. Letting out a yelp, the hatchling startled back- and right off the cliff.

A scream filled the air- it took Egret a moment to realize it was coming from himself. Trico was making loud, panicked barks, calling foolishly for any hope of a response from Hoarfrost- maybe she hadn’t fallen? The fog had near instantly covered her, hiding her from view. But deep down, they both knew it was no use.

Until wingbeats rang out, clearing the fog like the last rays of light from the setting sun. Daybreak and Inkblotch appeared, a small bundle of feathers clutched between their talons. With a heave the pile landed before them on the path- Daybreak, Inkblotch, and an unharmed but paler than usual Hoarfrost. Trico quickly scrambled forward, pulling the shaken hatchling close while Egret stared in disbelief. They had saved her.

The pair of Tropeognathus pulled themselves to their feet, Inkblotch huffing. “Next time, can you just listen to what we say?” For once, Egret couldn't help but fully agree with them.