Cat and Mouse

“Where did it go this time?” Aphra grouches as he slowed his movements. The large, dark grey and brown Anteosaurus was in pursuit of something. He didn't know what it was, he had never seen another creature like it, and it wouldn't stop long enough for him to ask. He didn't know how it got to their island, as the ocean creates a decent barrier for their pack to be safe. Whatever it was, it kind of looked like a Utahraptor but with a strange head, its body was sand with light unders and an underblaze… compared to him it was relatively plain. He had a flair to him, with a fleshy beard and a dark pinstripe that wove around cream patches. His orange eyes narrowed as he sniffed at the air, he began to track it by scent. 

“One of you come with me, Duncan come with me. “ Aphra turned his head to look over his shoulder at his packmates, one of which was an Anteosaurus of varying shades of brown, a dark midline splitting a lighter top and a more medium bottom. His crossing surrounded a black caiman while how dark brow edged his almost hidden Siamese. He looked like he had dark claw marks on his neck and hip. 

“I'm right here with you. “ He voiced, moving next to Aphra but keeping his distance. 

“Whatever this is I'm going to see if I can go around and cut it off. “ Gemini spoke up with slight concern, hoping their island wasn't being invaded by whatever this was. He was a grayish Anteosaurus with dark sunspots framed by extensive brown merle. His nose had a pink marking on it. 

“You do that, try to drive it to us. “ Duncan answered him back while Aphra continued to track. 

With that the merle Anteo would move off in another direction, going to try to flank this fleeing raptor thing, he didn't know what it was. If anything, they could eat it. If it was something new though maybe they should catch it and ask it questions? Maybe they should show Karkar. 

Aphra and Duncan drive forward, tracking the new creature by scent. Soon they seemed to close on it, moving quicker than it was as it skirted the unfamiliar terrain. The Anteosaurus had home field advantage here, this was their territory, their home. They didn't have to go too far, the creature was caught up at a sort of natural barrier…an outcropping of rock that was surrounded by rough scrub bushes. It was indeed a sort of sand color, with light cream unders, blue eyes, brown claws, crest and beak and a brown underblaze on its throat. It was clearly frantic, trying to figure out the quickest way past the rock outcropping. Its feathers poofed up when Aphra called out to it, the poor thing jumping in place and turning to face him and Duncan. “Hey! What are you? What are you doing in our territory?” 

The creature quickly turned around when it saw both of the Anteosaurus, using its wings to give it extra lift as it started to jump up the rocks and try to escape the carnivores. It didn't help that Aphra made a growl of frustration, him and Duncan started after it to follow it. “Get back here, answer me!” That only seemed to get the poor creature to try jumping up rocks faster, it slipping a bit clumsily on some gravel.  

It made it to the top after a somewhat impressive display of hopscotch and was panting by the time, clearly afraid of the strangers as it crested the summit and checked its tail. Duncan and Aphra has stopped following it, for now. It quickly turned to keep going forward, wanting to keep it's advantage. Only..it wouldn't keep any advantage. Gemini who had flanked around to get ahead of it appeared in its vision, not giving it any time to try to dodge out of the way as the merle Anteo jumped forward and punched it with his front feet. The force of him, who was easily stronger than the sand-colored-whatever knocked it off its feet and straight down the rock outcropping, right back to Aphra and Duncan. The creature panicked, feeling brief weightlessness as it fell backwards before it let out a bit of a pained squawk when it hit the ground below. 

The poor thing let out a whine as it tried to push itself up to try to escape again but Aphra and Duncan wouldn't let it. Duncan rushed forward and tackled it back down, getting his weight on it as he pinned it down. It cried and began to flap and flail and dig at the ground to try to escape but that was fruitless. It curing in fearfully as Duncan snarled at it, snapping his teeth by it. “Stop struggling! If you don't answer us we're going to turn you into lunch!” He threatened. 

“Please don't kill me I didn't mean to do anything wrong!” She pleaded. Aphra was moving closer and Gemini was coming down off of the rock outcropping. 

“You came into someone else's territory and then you ran away when one of us tried to ask you questions. “ Gemini would state as he now stood nearby. Him and Aphra both were ready to catch this thing again if it got away from Duncan. 

“I was scared!” She explained. “You're complete strangers, you don't look anything like my kind and you have such big teeth. I didn't know this was your territory. All I saw was an island across the water and I thought that would be a really good place to leave some seeds. Oh..” she trailed off, talking quietly to herself. “I lost the seeds…” 

“Seeds…what seeds?” Aphra asked before he added on. “Are you and your kind the reason strange plants have been growing around the island? “ 

“Yes, most likely! We are all on a journey to spread our seeds. “ the sandy creature would answer back almost enthusiastically, which was odd compared to the earlier skittishness. 

“Why?” Duncan would question with a growl. “A lot of these plants are bad, you shouldn't be doing that! A member of our pack ate poisoned meat because of these plants, and they're killing our local plants and our food. “ Duncan pressed a little heavier on the creature, glaring at her. 

She let out a noise akin to a squeak, clearly afraid he would hurt her. “I didn't think about that, I'm just doing what the others are doing. I didn't know someone else has been here either, they must have been sneaky to get by you!” 

Gemini would step back into the conversation now, his head tilting a bit. “Others…what even are you? We've never seen your kind before. “ 

“We're Oviraptors. “ She would answer back a bit more quietly. “That's what I grew up hearing anyway. My name is Buttercup. “ She introduced herself because she didn't know what else to do, she really didn't want to give them more answers and she really didn't want them to eat her. 

“Buttercup. “ Duncan repeated and scoffed. “That's cute. “ 

“Well, Buttercup. Your kind are doing more harm than good, we don't want you on our island. “ Aphra spoke up, looking to Gemini to see if his call was the correct one. It was. 

“I can leave!” Buttercup said excitedly, taking the out for what it was. 

“Good, we're going to let you up. I want you to go back to the mainland, I don't want to see you here tomorrow. “ Gemini would back off a little, giving her room. “If you're here tomorrow, we're going to eat you.” 

She let out a noise and nodded. “I'll leave, don't worry about that you have my word. “ 

Gemini and Aphra looked to each other before they both looked to Duncan. 

Duncan scoffed again before he moved off of Buttercup. “Alright flowergirl get lost. “ The brown Anteosaurus looked to her pointedly. 

She was up on her feet in a flash, ruffling out as she dusted herself off. “Thank you for not killing me, goodbye!” She was quick to part, running for the shore so she could leave and not come back. They didn't make it obvious but the Anteosaurus made sure she left, following behind her at a distance as they tracked her by sight and by scent. They would watch from the rocks and from the scrub as she slipped back into the water of the channel and swam away from their home. Some of them relieved, one or two of them wary.