[Trade] Fights Over Dinner

Lucent knew the city well, which was why he chose it to be his area to scout for these invaders. Themis was heading to the opposite side of the island to the tunnels, he felt it suited her to lurk in the dark and hopefully use that feral temper to wring some bird’s neck and get some answers. He hoped she would return with information and dinner all in one, while he focused on a more cerebral approach. The seeds the Oviraptors were scattering across the islands were unsettling him, he had no reason to be wary so far but he had a gut feeling they weren’t to be trusted. This nagging feeling had led him to the middle of the old human habitats, the crumbling concrete making a sheltered path to the epicentre of the Oviraptor’s activity over the last few weeks. 

It seemed he wasn’t the only one with this idea, as two pale coloured Cryolophosaurus were crowding an Oviraptor against a wall. The larger one had black streaks and white spots flowing down her sides, while the smaller had pale streaks and a bright orange crest. They looked young, not quite hatchlings but not sub-adults either, enough to give him pause but not enough to make him back off. They weren’t actively harassing the raptor, just looming ominously over it. Lucent couldn’t hear what they were saying but they were growing increasingly frustrated when the raptor only responded by cowering towards the ground. The Utahraptor was pondering his options, there wasn’t much of a stealthy path to snatch the Ovi away from its current interrogators. His best bet would be to play nice with the Cryos for as long as it took to squeeze some information from his quarry. He emerged from the shadows and the Cryos turned to face his pale visage instantly, only hearing him because he wanted them too. They immediately tensed up and tried to hide their prey from his sight.

It wasn’t hard to see, probably why an inexperienced pair of Cryos could corner it. The Ovi had brightly coloured green and yellow feathers with a stark red face, hardly camouflage for the city streets. Paired with the vivid teal of the paint slapped onto its wings and neck, this thing was practically begging for something to eat it. It was lucky Lucent was hungry for information instead of a real meal, otherwise he would have snatched it from the claws of these bumbling fools already. Instead, he had to play nice, which made his skin itch. With the Cryos on the defensive already, he had to think carefully about his approach.

“We want the same thing,” he tried to reason, “We all want to know what these birdbrains are doing, scattering seeds everywhere.” The female frowned at him.

“That’s a bit of a harsh way to phrase it, these guys seem pretty smart,” she said, scowling. They probably did seem smart to a child this stupid, Lucent thought to himself. 

“They’re clearly not as smart as us,” he said smoothly, “if we’ve managed to corner it like this.” He tried an ‘us vs them’ approach this time, hoping to appeal to the camaraderie of carnivores but neither Cryo looked convinced. He had his work cut out for him trying to reason with them, and his patience was wearing thin. With the predators distracted, the Ovi began to slowly crawl away from the wall. It took tentative steps and froze when it made eye contact with Lucent, who was already watching it move. The Cryos noticed his attention diverted and their heads snapped in the direction of the Oviraptor again.  

“Hey! Where are you going?” the male juvenile snapped. He raised a clumsy leg and slapped it down onto the Oviraptor who made an undignified honking sound as it was flattened. “We’re not done asking questions yet!” The cryo looked even more frustrated as he turned back to Lucent. “Why don’t you clear off?” The raptor held in a chuckle at the pomp and posturing of the two youngsters. They had no idea who they were dealing with but he wasn’t keen to show his full hand just yet. 

“Why would I when we could work together?” He walked up to them, making the female Cryo strip her teeth and hiss at him. Her partner, her brother from the look of him, shifted his stance to back her up while also keeping the raptor pinned. Lucent finally growled at their impertinence. “Do you think you'll get anything from this creature without my help?” The Cryos exchanged glaces, clearly debating his proposition silently-

The female’s jaws clamped down on his unsuspecting neck, making him screech in pain. She didn’t get the best grip, which let him pull free with an agonising drag of sharp teeth through his flesh. He felt the blood trickle down his neck and his intention of a peaceful resolution shattered. He flung himself at her underbelly, skidding under her short arms and kicking the legs out from under her. With her knocked flat he savaged the featherless chest in front of him, using his jaws to strip the muscle bare and his claw to gouge a hole into one of her legs. While he tried to unhook his claw from her flesh he felt another feathery lump collide with his back and try to knock him clear. He licked his lips clean of the blood, and used his tail to balance as he kicked out at the attacking male. He made contact but the young Cryo still managed to sink his teeth into his back and clamp down. His kick didn't shake the Cryo and he could feel the teeth sinking closer to his spine, he was running out of room to fight back. He flipped his head backwards as far as it could go, putting his jaws in the reach of the juvenile's right leg. He snapped and tore at the tendons he could reach, finally feeling the jaws release him. He made contact with the ground and clawed his way out from under the wounded Cryo. He managed to get some distance between him and the female who had found her way upright again and was facing him again. They stood breathing heavily, all three facing each other and waiting for the next move. Lucent's eyes darted back to the Oviraptor and barely caught its yellow tail feathers vanishing around a distant corner. He swore viciously which made the other two jump.

"Fucking morons," he growled, "we've lost it!" The female sneered at him.

"Seems you had more skin in this than we did, what a shame for you," she mocked. He had half the mind to set upon them again but sense won out and he refrained from ripping the sneer from her face. With a final growl in their direction he made a tactical retreat into the dark streets again. He would have to find that luridly coloured Oviraptor some other time.