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[Trade] Stressful meeting

In Aging ・ By BlackAtachi

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A small, brightly coloured bird lowered its flight and landed on a branch. The thin, young branch bent slightly under its weight, moving like a spring. With a quick, almost automatic movement, the bird cleaned its feathers with its beak and then uttered a few melodious sounds. It had bright red feathers, which formed a characteristic crest around the top of its head, contrasting sharply with the blue-grey background of the winter forest. A male Red Cardinal.

Deadnettle looked at the small animal with undisguised curiosity, reacting to every sound the bird made with a mixture of curiosity and fear. The young male had never seen anything like it before. No wonder - he had only been walking this world for a few days. No later than a week ago, the acrocanthosaurus hatched from an egg, fiercely and eagerly breaking through the thin shell. Unfortunately, as it turned out, he was in no hurry to come into this world – he was the last of his siblings, and in the abandoned nest he found only the broken remains of the other eggs. From the beginning, he sadly had to fend for himself.

The bird let out one last melodious trill, then took off gracefully, soaring upwards. Deadnettle jumped back, slightly alarmed by the sudden movement, but his fear quickly turned to excitement. Where could this tiny animal be going? What could it be doing when it wasn't sitting on a thin branch above the young dinosaur's head? All this was an intriguing mystery that the young male intended to solve.

~*~

Maeve yawned loudly, smacking her lips as she did so. One of her companions, an elderly, experienced female, turned and scolded the tactless youngster with a glance. ‘Be a little more discreet,’ said the wise, slightly irritated look. The youngster bristled at the remark, making silly faces - Maeve was not in the mood to obey others today.

The two females were not the only herbivores here - the area was swarming with styracosaurus. The entire herd numbered at least three dozen animals, which slowly traversed the winter landscape, stopping every now and then to rummage through the snow in search of tasty roots and tubers. Living in a group had many advantages, so most styracosaurus in this area chose this path. In addition to providing support in everyday life, this community also provided collective assistance during the breeding season. The females gathered in one place and laid their eggs in communal nests, which were then guarded by the ceratopsians on duty. This system, which was extremely efficient, sometimes led to hatchlings not even knowing who their parents were after hatching – they simply belonged to the herd and stuck with it. This was also the case with Maeve.

The young female was still just a chick, but she hadn't hatched yesterday. She quickly outgrew the stage of a newborn, frightened animal that clings to its herd at all costs - a thirst for adventure began to grow within her. The older dinosaurs would certainly not let her wander off alone, considering it far too dangerous, but what if she managed to slip away from their watchful eyes? Maeve didn't even have to go far, just venture to the edge of the forest that loomed at the end of the vast clearing where the herd had stopped. The excited female looked at the ceratopsians grazing nearby, happily noting that each of them was fully occupied with their meal. She would be able to return before anyone noticed her disappearance...

She carefully passed the young male standing next to her, drawing no attention to herself. She took her first few steps cautiously, but, as she had expected, no one paid any attention to her. Maeve breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards the edge of the forest.

~*~

Meteor lazily rolled over onto her other side, snuggling up to the other youngster lying next to her. It was her first winter, but she was already sure she didn't like this season – her bare, scaly skin couldn't cope well with the snow and low temperatures. The female took advantage of the warmth offered by the community and rarely strayed far from her companions. She lay curled up on a bed made of dry grass and twigs, occasionally changing position with resignation, hoping that one of them would finally provide her with sufficient comfort — to no avail. Bored with these frustrating attempts, the female raised her head and looked around the cave. Most of her group were in their old places, resting and relaxing in a soothing half-sleep. However, a few adolescents were not in sight – they must have wandered off in search of something more interesting to do. Despite her bad mood, Meteor had to admit that thinking about what they might be doing now excited her slightly. Maybe they had found some unexpected treats? Or were they playing in the snow? Perhaps they were exploring the area, so changed by the winter landscape? The female tried hard to fight off the intrusive thoughts, but when she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from somewhere behind the trees, curiosity finally got the better of her...

~*~

Deadnettle tirelessly chased after the red, blurry dot – the cardinal was surprisingly fast. The young theropod squealed with delight, running through the snowy forest like an arrow. Despite his still-developing motor coordination, the male gracefully leapt over fallen logs and clusters of stones, leaving chaotic footprints in the snow. He focused only on the red dot above him, fixated to the point of obsession, reaching full speed in this unusual chase.

But suddenly the cardinal stopped. He dived headdown sharply, landing on a pine branch in a fraction of a second. Unfortunately, Deadnettle could not repeat this manoeuvre.

The little acro slammed into the tree trunk so hard that all the snow that had been covering the branches above has fallen on his head. The male fell to the cold ground, dazed by the impact and deafened by the deafening bang it caused. It took him several long seconds to catch his first breath - the force of the collision had brutally pushed the air out of his immature lungs. Deadnettle struggled to his shaky feet, staggering like a newborn foal. He instinctively brushed himself off, trying to shake off the cap of snow, but it wasn't a good idea - the sudden, chaotic movement caused his blood to throb unpleasantly in his ears, and his eyes lost all focus. He slumped to the ground, feeling the bitter cold of the frozen soil once again. He made a clumsy attempt to massage his aching head with his hand, contorting himself comically in the process. The accident had wounded not only his body, but also his pride.

This time, for safety's sake, he did not intend to get up from the ground too quickly. He gave himself a good minute to rest, contemplating the throbbing pain pushing against his head. Then he sighed heavily, preparing to change position, and involuntarily looked around.

And then he saw IT.

A strange animal, almost his size, standing on two legs. Its long neck ended in a small head with a keratin beak, and its skin shimmered with shades of purple and yellow. An awkward, thick tail stuck out strangely from its back end, making the acro male feel uneasy. But that wasn't the worst of it... THE CLAWS!

Deadnettle jumped up from the ground so violently that he barely avoided another collision with the tree. Meteor, startled by the sudden movement, let out a high-pitched squeak and took a few steps back.

Both hatchlings' breathing quickened dangerously as they scrutinised each other. Long claws. Bright scales. Menacing-looking teeth. A beak that gave you goosebumps. Spikes on the back. A veritable collection of disturbing features.

And then something interrupted them. A loud, high-pitched screech, full of disbelief and fear, but tinged with a hint of excitement. Another lost traveller?

The nervous pair turned their heads sharply towards the sound, almost breaking their necks in the process. More menacing horns and another sharp beak.

This was too much - everyone involved in this unusual encounter panicked, making uncoordinated attempts to escape, each of which ended in the same way - bumping into each other and falling down. The three startled hatchlings, so different from each other and absolutely terrified of each other's presence, lay on the ground in shock, too exhausted to run any further.

Everyone expected the worst, furtively observing their sharp teeth, long claws, and disturbing horns, but nothing bad happened. No one attacked.

It took them a moment, but finally curiosity won out over fear. Deadnettle timidly approached Meteor, wanting to take a closer look at her long claws, while Maeve watched with fascination the colourful stripes on the male's tail. The introduction lasted a good few minutes and was accompanied by squeals of excitement and murmurs of surprise - they quickly forgot their fear. After some time all previous stress was turned into friendly interest.

This moment could have been the beginning of a beautiful friendship...