Pamplona

Kaiwi was a busy raptor these days. There wasn't much that a juvenile raptor needed to care about on Isla Kela and he revelled in that fact, luxuriated in it even. He was no longer a fragile little hatchling, he had left home and was providing for himself now, enjoying the solitary life away from his parents and siblings. That isn't to say he eschewed company entirely, he always had a friendly word for those who were friendly with him and he had even formed a makeshift pack with two Cryos at one point, living and working with them to track down food. They were his age and similarly lost in the world, so it had been mutually beneficial but like all packs he had joined the itch to be on his own had overtaken him again and he left. Since then he had been alone, wandering wherever his feet took him and living off the bounty of creatures the islands were home to, while his lack of affiliation allowed him to blend in almost anywhere he went.

With an ethos like his, familiar faces were everywhere, but this one in particular always made him stop to chat.

“Cassidy,” he greeted cheerfully, making the pink raptor look up from her stoic gaze along the horizon.

"Kaiwi," she greeted in turn, sounding surprised, "Fancy seeing you here." Kaiwi looked around at the luscious grass fields that grew between the Dead City and the forest, not really sure why he wouldn't be here. Cassidy looked on edge, like she was ready to bolt at any moment and when he managed to get a look behind her he could see why. A small herd of cattle grazed the lush grass, cows and calves accompanied by a solitary bull standing guard at the edge of their 

"Calf's good eating," he said approvingly but the other raptor shook her head.

"Not the calf, I'm going for the big one," she said, looking directly at the brown and white bull. Kaiwi followed her gaze to take a proper look at the bull himself, even as his jaw dropped open at her audacity. From what the old geezers said, these cows were descended from those that had been kept by humans before they all vanished. He was never one to listen to human fairy tales but this one had stuck with him, as the moral had been due to human interference, these animals were heavily muscled and piled with the most delicious meat a carnivore could imagine. He had eaten from a cow with his siblings after his parents had led them all to the site of the kill. He still remembered how vast the carcass felt, being able to stand on the ribs and fit entirely within the split open torso. The bull guarding the herd of cows seemed to be twice its size, even after Kaiwi had grown. Bulls usually grew horns in pairs but this one had only one, the other seemingly broken off at the root. He glanced over at Cassidy, two weeks his junior and a juvenile as well, his height and nothing more. 

"You're insane," he said blankly.

"I'm hungry and determined," Cassidy corrected him. A gleam of something vicious was in her eyes and it unnerved him.

"Look, I've figured out some trapping methods, they're safer and you just have to sacrifice some time to wait for them to work," he started but Cassidy held up her claw.

"Not interested, traps can be for when I'm old and stooped over and can't chase anything," she said dismissively, "If I can't fight a cow, I can't fight a Carno. I'll spend my life being pushed around by anything with the luck to be bigger than me. I have to practice, I have to challenge myself, I have to take risks now or I won't be able to handle danger later." Her face was grim as she spilled her guts and Kaiwi found himself being swayed by her words. He might have committed to a path of pacificism, but he understood why others wouldn't, or couldn't.

"At least let me help then," he offered reluctantly. Cassidy blinked at him in surprise.

"Really? After all that scolding?"

"I'm not going to let you do it alone, we're friends are n't we? I don't want to lose you to a damn cow," he snorted.

"Well then, I hope you've gotten better at following orders since we were kids," Cassidy drawled slyly. 

"You're one to talk," he snorted, "You know you were more of a delinquent than I was."

"And I still am," the pink raptor said proudly, fluffing up her crest, "Alright then, bone boy, listen up, I won't accept any deviations from the plan."

---

Cassidy, to her credit, had a pretty solid plan of attack. The bull's main concern was always going to be protecting his cows, leaving himself open if they could rile up the rest of the herd enough to distract him. It had been a tougher job to accomplish with one raptor, so she was more than happy to send Kaiwi into the long grass instead while she found herself in an advantageous ambush position. Once the herd were in a panic, Cassidy would wait for Kaiwi to sneak closer and they could launch their attack together. Naturally, she would attack first but ideally Kaiwi wouldn't be far behind and would help her drag the bull to the ground.

She vibrated with excitement as she waited for Kaiwi to whip the herd into a frenzy. She had been confident in her plan already, but having backup was the ideal scenario, leading to her feeling like this kill was guaranteed. She imagined the bull as a Styra, charging aggressively at her and she played out the scenario in her head, ducking to the side, lunging at the flank and climbing aboard to take advantage of her natural agility. With enough practice, no dinosaur on these islands could push her around again. A pack would be nice, but she knew she had to hone her skills solo before proving herself in a group. Even if she ran with a pack fulltime, unlike Kaiwi who seemed to pick and choose whether he was allied with anyone, there could be situations where she was separated from the rest and had to fend for herself. With her preparations, she would not only be a valuable member, she would be a feared unit solo too. 

When the cows began to run, the bull turned his large head away from scanning the meadow to look at them. His small brown eyes couldn't see Kaiwi in the grass but he knew from the smell that a predator was lurking around his cows. He turned fully and began to charge into the herd to find the source of the panic. Cassidy followed him, keeping low even as he faced away and upwind from her. She didn't want to admit it to the other raptor, but she was as cautious as Kaiwi had been around this beast. She knew one wrong move could end up with her trampled to death or gored by the bull's remaining horn, but she stuffed these concerns to the back of her mind. It wouldn't happen, today's hunt would end in victory for her.

Cassidy's sharp eyes saw a dark shape flit between the grasses and she knew it was Kaiwi, context clues aside, something in her gut said it wasn't a dark-coloured calf but one of her own kind. With him close by, she decided to spring her ambush on the bull. 

In the centre of the herd, turning on his heel and snorting intimidatingly, the bull couldn't see past the panicked cows as they fled from an enemy that appeared like a ghost from every direction. He wasn't able to see the pink raptor approaching in the sunset lighting and the first he knew of her was the feeling of claws and teeth sinking into his flesh. Cassidy had managed to leap onto her target's back, gripping on with her claws and latching her jaws around the crest of the bull's neck. She was doing it, at this point she had already won, surely? She began to shake her head back and forth to rip and tear at the bull's neck, hoping to tear the spine apart and make its legs give out. Just a simple matter of taking it apart until it stopped moving. She felt a tooth be left behind in the muscle of the bull and pulled back to get a better grip, before she could grab on again, the world tilted on its axis and her stomach plunged as she was flipped upside down. She couldn't orientate herself in time and felt the bull land heavily on top of her, crushing her under its weight. The air was squeezed out of Cassidy's chest, stopping her from even crying out. The bull had flipped itself to shake her off and it had worked, it was completely flattening her under its back and the more it kicked its legs to right itself the more she felt her bones creak and snap. It rolled off of her to lie on its chest, snorting at her and trying to haul itself up. Blood streamed down its shoulders but it looked like her bite didn't hinder it at all. Its hoof came down dangerously close to her leg with enough force to shatter her bone if it hadn't missed. She tried to sit up but a sharp pain in her chest kept her pinned to the ground. She looked up at the bull with her eyes watering in pain. She was going to die here.

When Kaiwi appeared, Cassidy had expected to feel relief, but instead a sinking nausea bloomed in her gut. She hadn't just gotten herself killed, she was killing her best friend too. The other raptor ducked under the bull's neck and clung to it upside like a monkey, his sickle claws digging deep into its chest and refusing to let go without ripping the flesh apart. His jaws went straight to the underside of the neck, clamping around the arteries and windpipe that sat there and he started to rip and tear with all of his might. At first he came away with nothing, leaving deep gouges behind, but with repeated attempts the flesh began to pull away, muscles shredded and the reinforced tube of flesh that allowed the bull to breathe was torn open. Unsure of how to disengage safely, Kaiwi held on, knowing his adversary was against the clock now. The bull kicked, bucked and shook its head to try and dislodge him but it only damaged itself further. When Kaiwi felt it beginning to stagger, he unhooked his claws and fell to the ground, rolling out from under the bull as it struggled to stay on its feet.

The bull made a valiant effort to gore him as he rolled away, but in its exsanguinated state it thrust its broken horn forward instead, not coming nearly close enough to spear him. Kaiwi scrambled to his feet, backing up to keep out of the danger zone as the bull continued its fight. It tried to take a step towards the raptor but its legs buckled from under it and it collapsed to the ground. Kaiwi just had to stand and watch as it finally heaved a last breath through its gaping throat before stopping entirely. With the bull dead, he finally turned to Cassidy, still lying on the crimson stained grass. She had managed to pull herself to her front but she was breathing in ragged gasps like she couldn't expand her lungs enough to catch her breath. She was alive, but he had no idea how badly she had been injured. He couldn't bring himself to ask her if she was okay when she looked so clearly wrecked.

"I'll- my chest- hurts. Legs, arms... not broken," she wheezed, standing up to prove her point, using her arms to push herself up. 

"Don't move too much, chest injuries can be pretty serious," Kaiwi fussed, nibbling the top of her head and forcing her to lie down again, "You have to stay as still as possible for as long as you can, that's the only way they heal."

"So I'll die here, then?" she said, managing to keep her snark even as she couldn't catch her breath. Kaiwi scowled at her, and she looked suitably scolded by it. He approached the bull's carcass cautiously, just in case it sprang back to life, but managed to strip a chunk of flesh from it and brought it back to drop at Cassidy's feet.

"Never, ever, underestimate your prey's determination to live," Kaiwi breathed heavily, blood still dripping from his teeth. Her bright pink eyes looked solemnly at him, and he believed her when she nodded and began to eat. He stood guard like the bull had, making sure Cassidy ate before he took his fill. Scavengers would come for the carcass but he hoped his genial reputation meant he could simply let them eat and they would move on without fuss. Either way, he was stuck here for a while, unwilling to leave Cassidy stranded in her condition. The idea of being linked with another after only just leaving his last pack should have made him anxious but as he searched for the feeling it was nowhere in sight. Somehow, it didn't feel like an effort to be with Cassidy.