Forest Feast

A trio of carnivores wander through a meadow by the redwood forest, bellies full from a recent hunt.

Deadbite, a cryolophosaurus, walks along the forest edge with Slate, an acrocanthosaurus, and Cerise the utahraptor. Deadbite stands out the most of the trio with her vivid red and black markings against a cream coat.  

“Should we head into the forest?” Deadbite looks over her shoulder, waiting for the others to respond.

The grey acrocanthosaurus, Slate, has brown markings along her face, tail, arms and legs. She looks down at her companion Cerise- a small light pink feathered utahraptor with pink and brown striped markings- for an answer. 

Cerise shrugs. “Sure, why not!” 

Deadbite enters the forest first.

The forest is full of greenery- massive redwood trees, green ferns and mosses, a variety of mushrooms and nuts… the walk is quiet and peaceful until Deadbite notices something that shouldn't be there- vivid red and green mushrooms. 

Having noticed something strange she pauses to alert the rest of the pack. “Theres some weird plants here.” 

Cerise darts forwards to check it out. Strange mushrooms, strange flowers and… thorny plants! “It's those same plants from the rainbow beach!” 

Slate is instantly on alert. “Could be from one of those strange dinosaurs we were chasing. Don't touch any of the plants.” 

Cerise nods. “We have to be careful.” He turns to Deadbite. “Keep your eyes peeled for more oddities!” 

Deadbite nods and the group heads further into the forest, following the assortment of strange plants.

In a small clearing they spot it- a strange featherless raptor. Its hide is a dark brown with white unders, green vibe like markings around its neck, and blue and brown markings on its quilted rump.

“What a strange head crest.” Cerise eyes the other raptor curiously, tilting his head. 

“Its tail is so short…” Slate mutters, stepping forwards to get a better look. Her foot snaps a branch and the trio freezes.

The odd raptors head snaps up and it glances around. 

“I'll handle this.” Cerise says before hopping out of the bushes.

“Hi there!” Cerise slowly makes his way towards the new dinosaur. “We noticed-”

Before he can finish the dinosaur is gone, fleeing into the bushes.

“Must be shy.” Deadbite suggests as she makes her way into the clearing.

“Maybe we should bring a peace offering, so it knows we won't attack it.” Slate suggests. 

“How about food as an offering? Everyone likes food!”

Deadbite and Slate agree and the trio begins hunting. After some time they end up with a squirrel, a rabbit and a small boar.

It takes a bit of searching but they finally manage to track down the mysterious newcomer. This time, they spread out, forming a circle so that the new dinosaur can't flee.

Cerise enters the clearing first. The stranger darts to the side and turns around, coming face to face with Deadbite. As the stranger backs away, Deadbite stops moving and Slate enters the clearing  forcing the dinosaur to move into the middle of the clearing. It looks around nervously as the carnivores close in.

Cerise places his squirrel on the ground. “Here, this is for you!” Cerise preens, fluffing his feathers out in an attempt to impress the strange raptor. 

Deadbite and Slate follow, rolling their eyes at their companions display, placing the rabbit and boar down. “We haven't seen you around these parts. Are you hungry?” 

The new raptor slowly relaxes at the sight of the offerings. “I am, thank you!” 

She looks over all the food. “This is too much for me to eat alone though, why don't you join me?” 

“Of course!” Grinning, Cerise drags the food closer to the new raptor and the group sits down to eat.

They find out that the stranger is named Lahna, and the type of raptor that she is called an Oviraptor. She admits that she normally only hangs out with herbivores so the trio startled her. The group is curious about that and she explains that she's an omnivore- she can eat meat and plants! Cerise finds that very interesting and the pair chat about that until Deadbite asks about the green markings along her neck. 

The green vines along Lana's neck are actually something she calls paint and the carnivores listen intently as she talks about how to make it using some of the plants that she is growing. 

“Are you the one that's been planting all these strange plants?” Deadbite asks.

Lahna nods. “I’ve been planting and taking care of the ones here in the forest. They're from where I used to live!” 

“What about the ones from the shimmering cove?” Slate asks. “Did you plant those?” 

Lahna shakes her head. “No, that wasn't me. There are others of my kind that have been searching for a place to grow plants as well, but I haven't seen any around here.” 

“What's this shimmering cove like?” Lahna asks Cerise. “I haven't heard of it before!”

'That means there's more of these new raptors all around the land then.’ Slate thinks to herself as Cerise begins to tell Lahna all about the rainbow salt rocks along the beach of the shimmering cove, and the coves warm healing waters. Deadbite finishes the last of the meat and settles down for a quick nap. 

“Do you just stay in the forest and tend to the plants all the time then?” Slate asks when Cerise finally finishes talking. 

Lahna nods. “Yes. This place reminds me of home and the plants grow easily here. One day I'd like to travel but not right now. Stories about the land are fine for now.” 

“Speaking of home…we should be going.” Deadbite yawns and stands, watching as the sun lowers in the sky. It's a long walk back home.

Slate nods and stands. Cerise pouts, wanting to hear more about the Oviraptors homeland, but follows. “We’re normally around the northern pond and stone ruins past the meadow, if you ever want to come visit!” 

Lahna nods and bids the pack farewell and the carnivores make their way out of the forest.