Savanna Gang

The grass of the savanna was the ideal height to hide a Utahraptor hatchling, and Tiramisu used it to his full advantage. His hatch site had been lonely, just him and the discarded remnants of his egg, no siblings, no parents, just him breaking out into a depression in the dirt. It didn't even look like a proper nest, just like an afterthought to put an egg in to stop it rolling away. He wondered if he was so uncared for that whoever had left him there hadn't expected him to survive the process of hatchling. But he had survived, he thought with an air of spite, he had survived and now was making his own way in the world. His little feet ached from his long trek through the savanna but he was alive and about to reach his first source of water since he had hatched. His belly was still full from his egg meal but thirst had begun to prickle in his throat from the hot sun that caught him in its beam when he emerged from the shade of the tall grasses. The water before him pooled out in almost a perfect circle, the shallows looked inviting and warm for a quick bath and he made a beeline for it.

"Wait!" A high pitched voice called from the long grass. Tiramisu stopped, looking up to the banks of the lake and seeing two pairs of eyes locked on to him.

"Get up here, quickly!" a different voice said frantically. It was said with enough urgency that Tiramisu shook his suspicion and ran in that direction. He scrambled up the bank and found himself snout to snout with another Utahraptor hatchling. She was a pale purple with dark blue stripes running down her sides and sharp purple eyes, just a hair shorter than him but with thicker feathers that puffed up along her crest as he nearly ran into her. The second voice had come from another Utahraptor, one slightly larger than him with greyish pink feathers and pale pink stripes to match her deep pink eyes. The second raptor fluttered her arms nervously as Tiramisu skidded to a halt in front of them and stared, unsure of what to do next.

"You... called me?" he prompted.

"We had to! You didn't see the crocodile," the pink one told him earnestly, eyes wide. "Look, we'll show you." She poked out of the tall grass and used her claw to point at the shallows of the lake where Tiramisu had been attempting to drink. From this vantage point, a bumpy, wrinkled looking log sat just below the surface. When he squinted, he could just about make out the small eyes that sat either side of the “log”'s head.

"Wow, I didn't see him at all!" he exclaimed, his awe for the massive crocodilian outweighing the existential dread of almost succumbing to its jaws.

"No one does, until it's too late," the purple one said grimly. "We watch for him and run for a drink on the opposite side of wherever he is. Works really well when there's a group drinking all at once, he has to pick a target then."

"You two live here?" he asked, tilting his head.

"We do! Lots to eat here and the lake's right next to some fun places to play," the pink one said. "What's your name, by the way? You wanna join our pack?" He was taken aback a little at the sudden question but he gathered his nerve.

"I'm Tiramisu, you have a pack?" he asked in lieu of a solid answer. He had never been asked to join a pack before, he was unsure of the etiquette and he didn't want to upset the other raptors after they'd looked out for him.

"It's not really a pack," the purple one corrected, "it's just the two of us but Foxglove is right, you're welcome to join us. If you want, that is." Foxglove, the pink one, nodded enthusiastically.

"I think we still count as a pack even if we're small," she added. "Did we introduce ourselves yet? I'm Foxglove, this is Thistle," she gestured to her purple friend. "It's nice to meet you Tiramisu!"

Are you from the same nest?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"We're not, we just found each other, like we found you," Foxglove said cheerfully.

"I was born alone," Thistle admitted, "When I hatched it was just me in the nest. Someone built a nest, put me there and then left me."

"That happened to me too," Tiramisu jumped in eagerly, "I was alone in my nest. It wasn't a very good nest but I think it was a nest. It was more like a dip in the ground," he rambled while the others nodded along.

"My nest had some twigs and stuff but it wasn't much more than yours, I think," Thistle pondered, "I wonder who left us behind? Did they know each other?"

"Did they choose to leave us all behind or did they have no choice?" Foxglove wondered softly. The question left a sombre mood in the air. The hatchlings hadn't let this thought linger with them before, whether their parents had intentionally abandoned them or if other circumstances had led to them being alone when they hatched. Foxglove couldn't remember any carnage in her nest, no evidence of broken eggs from unhatched siblings, no blood spilled from a defending parent. Just a serenely empty nest with her freshly hatched in the middle of it, alone. Thistle hadn't thought much about it but her own nest had been peaceful too, and there wasn't much of a nest where Tioramisu had hatched to be disturbed but it had looked calm there.

"It's a mystery," he shrugged, breaking the contemplative silence. "Anyway, I'm still really thirsty, can you show me how you get around the crocodile to drink?" The girls perked up at his question and their feathers ruffled as they both made for the bank of the lake.

"Yes, come here, we need to show you it's hard to explain," Thistle said quickly, nearly tripping over her words. "Actually, it's really easy with three, I think." She slid down the bank and barely touched the water, it rippled outwards and the crocodile slowly sank beyond the surface into the depths of the lake. Tiramisu scanned the water furiously, trying to spot it before it could launch itself at his new friend. He saw the water bubble and called out.

"It's on your left, straight ahead," he yelled down to Thistle. She looked mildly surprised but backed up.

"Now he's on this side, go run and drink from the other side!" she called in return. She continued to reverse up the bank to the grass, keeping an eye on the lake all the while. Tiramisu was hesitant to make his move but Foxglove nudged him.

"Go, I'll keep watch for you the way you did for Thistle. Maybe not as quick as you though, I was supposed to warn her first," she grinned at him. With his confidence buoyed, Tiramisu rushed down to the lake's edge where he had arrived before. He dipped his snout in and gulped the refreshing water down, feeling it soothe the dry rasp in his throat. He hurried back after he felt suitably quenched, finding both girls waiting for him.

"Simple as that," Thistle said cheerfully, "Things are easier in a group." He had to agree, from this experience alone he was fully convinced about the way of pack living.

"I'd like to join your pack, if you'll have me," he said shyly. Foxglove beamed at him, trilling happily.

"We have a pack of three," she crowed, "No one will mess with us now!" Thistle rolled her eyes fondly, looking at Tiramisu like they were sharing an old joke. It made something in his chest feel warm, cementing his decision to stick with these two no matter what.