[Trade] Miscommunication Between Species

It was midday, and in the heat and still air, the rest of Shiloh’s flock was taking a nap.  Shiloh, however, being young and restless, was out having an adventure.  While the adult therizinosauruses could easily push through the jungle’s thick underbrush, Shiloh found it much harder, his smaller frame not yet having the bulk to simply push saplings and shrubs aside.  Fortunately for him, there was an open meadow not far away, and he set out to romp around in the grass and flowers.

He was busy chasing a butterfly when he spotted movement down the hill.  At the base of the meadow, two forms emerged from the shadows underneath the trees.  One was a pinkish-colored dinosaur with winged crests on his head and horizontal stripes and spots along his body, just barely larger than Shiloh himself.  The other was paler, with softer patterning and small ridges on her head, but what made her terrifying was her size: she was as large as an adolescent therizinosaurus.  Shiloh froze.  He knew what these dinosaurs were: a cryolophosaurus and an acrocanthosaurus.  Carnivores.  He’d seen them from a distance before, but never up close.  His flock had always warned him that carnivorous dinosaurs could be dangerous, and to always be cautious if he saw one.  This pair seemed to be talking casually to each other, but he had no idea if that would change if they spotted him.  He needed somewhere to hide.  Shiloh looked frantically around the meadow.

It was mostly open space, the distances too wide for him to run without being seen, the grasses waving serenely in the breeze washing down from the mountain above.  The grass was tall, but not tall enough to crouch down and disappear into.  No bushes, no rocks, but- there!  A stunted tree, its branches low enough that Shiloh might be able to squeeze underneath and be hidden from view.  He rushed over, tucking himself beneath the leaves and sitting as still as possible, listening to the two dinosaurs as they came closer.

From their conversation, he soon learned that the cryo was named Katydid and the acro was Velvet.  They wandered closer, commenting on how nice the breeze felt after the still heat of the jungle.  They didn’t seem to be hunting, or else they wouldn’t be talking, but Shiloh had been told that carnivores could be very opportunistic, and some didn’t differentiate between dinosaurs and regular animals.  He needed to stay hidden.

Abruptly, Katydid stopped, lifting his head to sniff the air.  “I think I smell someone,” he said, turning slowly as he tried to find the source of the scent.  Shiloh felt cold.  The wind!  It was blowing his scent right toward them!

Velvet stopped as well, taking a deep breath.  “Oh, you’re right!  A theri, I think.  Maybe a young one, otherwise we would see them by now,” she stated.

Katydid brightened.  “Really?  I haven’t met one yet.  Should we try to find them?” he asked.  Shiloh shivered.  His flock were right- these carnivores wanted to start hunting him the moment they found out about him!

To his horror, Velvet nodded.  “Sure,” she replied noncommittally.  The two started sniffing around, slowly but surely drawing closer to Shiloh’s tree.  He could feel his panic rising.  Should he stay hidden?  Should he flee?  Surely they would catch him if he tried to run.  But, could he really fight off two dinosaurs that were larger than him?  He gazed down at his claws, gouging furrows in the bare dirt.  He had to try.

Just then, something touched the feathered tip of his tail- he’d left it sticking out from under the tree!  “Found you!” Katydid’s voice called.  With a cry, Shiloh burst from underneath the branches, slashing at the cryo’s face.  The dinosaur yanked his head back just in time, with only the longest claw managing to make a shallow scratch across his snout.  Instinctively, Katydid snapped back, his jaws closing with a click next to Shiloh’s long neck.

The orange and black theri shrieked again, slashing and flailing as Katydid scrambled backward.  “Get back!” Shiloh cried fearfully.  “Get back!  Don’t touch me!”

“Hey, bud, we’re just-” Velvet tried to interject, but Shiloh rounded on her, too, and she was forced to leap away to avoid his claws.

“No!” Shiloh shouted at her.  “I’m not prey!  Stay back!”  His head twisted back and forth, trying to watch both carnivores at once.

Katydid had backed up a distance, but Shiloh’s words made him tilt his head.  “Prey?” he asked.  “We’re just trying to say hi.”  Velvet nodded emphatically.

Shiloh, panting from his attack, stared at them.  Could he trust that?  “Then why were you sneaking up on me?” he exclaimed.

Velvet and Katydid glanced at each other.  “....We weren’t?” Katydid replied, sounding confused.

“We did kind of track him by scent.  And then you poked his tail,” Velvet supplied, swishing her own tail awkwardly.  “That might not have seemed very friendly.”

“I- well- I guess, yeah,” Katydid conceded, then turned back to Shiloh.  “But you didn’t have to claw my face for it!”

“I thought you were hunting me!” Shiloh shot back.

“Hunting you?  Why would we do that?  You’re another dinosaur!” Velvet leaned forward, but Shiloh raised his claws again in warning.

“My flock said that sometimes carnivorous dinosaurs will hunt other dinosaurs,” he stated bluntly.

Katydid scratched at his chin.  “Some do, yeah.  But we weren’t going to!”

Velvet nudged him.  “How would he know?” she whispered.

Katydid’s face fell.  “Oh.  I guess you’re right.  Um, sorry for scaring you,” he said, looking at Shiloh sheepishly.

Shiloh blinked, surprised.  An apology?  Cautiously, he relaxed a little.  “Sorry for clawing your face,” he apologized in turn.  Katydid dabbed at the scratch, then shrugged.

“Maybe we should just move on?” Velvet suggested.  Katydid nodded.

Shiloh perked up.  “I should get back to my flock.  My yelling might’ve woken them up.”

With shy waves, the three dinosaurs parted ways, Katydid and Velvet returning to their exploration while Shiloh trotted back into the jungle.