A Dangerous Encounter

It had been a few days since the altercation near the corpse. In that time Latte had chatted a lot with Blood Splatter. The acro seemed very excited to finally have someone to talk to, and shared his travels around the island. He often ended up being driven out before long due to the reputation acros had established after exiting the labs- violent machines of death that would defend their territories with merciless strength. Blood Splatter was far from the stereotype, however, and Latte found himself growing fond of the acro.

They now sat by what was left of the carcass, both had eaten their fill the past couple days and the smell of Blood Splatter alone had driven off more than one would-be scavenger. Latte looked over to Blood Splatter, who was gently cleaning the area around the wound the other acro had inflicted during their fight. They were both healing well, and they planned to set out later that day to find either a living quarry or another carcass. The cryo watched Blood Splatter’s strong jaws as he rubbed himself, hopefully those big teeth would mean something fresh. It would be the first time in a long time.

Latte tilted his head back to look at the small patches of sky the canopy failed to block out. It was late morning, they should probably get going soon. He stood up and chirped softly at Blood Splatter, who turned and proceeded to rise to his feet. Holy paras he was still getting used to how huge his new companion was. He took an unconscious step back, which got a little laugh from the acro. Embarrassed he took two steps closer to close some of the distance.

“It’s no wonder everyone runs from you,” the cryo joked, “You’re huge!” Blood Splatter let out a playful snort and opened his large jaws, showing off the giant teeth hidden by his lips. He snapped playfully at Latte, who yelped and danced back a few steps with a grin.

“It’s no wonder you always scavenge, your tiny frame can’t really take down most of the prey around here.” The acro joked back, soft eyes twinkling. It would have stung from anyone else but even within the short time he had come to know Blood Splatter, Latte knew the acro never said anything out of unkindness. The two set off into the bushes, Blood Splatter in the lead with Latte behind. The acro was good at crushing an easy to walk path through the underbrush, and Latte was still horribly unsuited to the highlands. The constant dripping of water didn’t bother him anymore, and he was beginning to learn to filter out the extra sounds and smells, but he still struggled with the dense foliage tripping him up.

“You said you came up from Ghost Ranch, right?” Blood Splatter turned his head to the side, catching Latte’s eye.

“Yeah, that’s where I had lived until winter. Then I travelled to the museum when the carnival came to town, and then I came up here because I figured it would give me the best chance at making it through the spring if I can find a herd and follow them back down for the summer.” The acro tilted his head, inquisitively. “The herbivores that migrate tend to go higher up during the fall and winter, and I figured if I could find some that were slower to get down they might be weaker.” Blood Splatter grunted in acknowledgement, thinking.

“It’s really productive up here, though.” The acro finally pointed out. “If I were an herbivore I’d stay here for sure!” He motioned to the dense foliage around them. The sweet smell of fresh buds was in the air, and the constant dripping was a great reminder of just how much water these plants had. Latte grimaced a little. The acro had a point. This was the first year he had tried something like this, had he made a mistake? He turned the idea over in his head a few times. Even if it didn’t work out how he planned, it was a more productive area than Ghost Ranch and Melt Town. Less worry about cutting yourself open on the concrete structures and barbed wire too. Better for herbivores.

“You make a good point,” he sighed. “Maybe it would be worth staying up here. He looked down at the foliage as his feet pushed through it, unhappily. It probably was a better place to live. The acro stopped walking and turned to him.

“Do you miss it?” He asked, soft eyes looking the cryo up and down. Latte was aware he had begun to droop at the thought of staying, and nodded. “I know a spot.” He tilted his head up to get a feel for where they were, taking in the smells. Suddenly he tensed, and Latte felt himself puff up a little in fear. If the acro three times his length was concerned, he felt whatever it was must be a valid threat.

“Get behind me.” Blood Splatter rumbled quietly, turning to face the way they had come. Latte obliged immediately. “We’re being followed.” There was an irritated hiss in the bushes and two albertos stepped out of the bushes. One was a desaturated brown. Her flanks were covered by appaloosa markings. Despite her striking appearance, the first thing Latte noticed was not her beautiful feathers. It was the large scar on the left side of her face. It tore her lip and he could see her sharp teeth even when her mouth closed. On her right was another Albertosaurus. He was a much darker, more saturated brown with white crests above his eyes and quills running down his scaley back. Latte shrunk back, eyeing the two nervously. They separated, and moved up towards either side of Blood Splatter’s head, eyeing the cryo behind him closely. The acro snapped at each of them, making them back up. Latte now noticed the female was covered in small scars, all across her body. The male was not. The female had more experience, but was also likely to move more stiffly with all the scar tissue. The male seemed more nervous. Constantly looking at the female for any cues. The acro seemed to notice the gap in experience as well, and lunged at the male. It was a near miss, and it sent him scrambling into the bushes. The female hissed and ran at Blood Splatters exposed neck, Latte charged out from behind the acro and caught the alberto’s tail tip in his jaws. He was yanked sideways with her momentum, and bit down as hard as he could. He tasted the warm blood as it gushed into his mouth, then he fell to the ground. The tailtip was still in his mouth. His weight had been enough to set the surprised female off balance though, and she tripped. She crashed painfully to the forest floor as Blood Splatter turned to her and hissed. Despite her position, she hissed back. Blood Splatter watched her struggle on the ground to get her feet under her, then reached out and placed a foot firmly on her neck. She squirmed, then stopped as the pressure increased. The acro lowered his head and hissed.

“Latte, how hungry are you?” His usually soft, expressive eyes were hard to read now. Latte spat out the tail tip and made his way over to the alberto’s side. He dipped down to look into her eyes, and she snapped her jaws as best she could at him. Turning to look into the forest he saw the other alberto pacing frantically a few yards away. It was too nervous to come back in, but wouldn’t give in and leave. Probably a nesting pair. Taking out the female now would drastically reduce the chances any existing clutch made it to hatching, and would completely eliminate the deposition of any eggs she was carrying. He found himself in a new position. Despite being a predator, he had never held such power in his jaws. Nothing this big would have ever been a choice before. Blood Splatter had waited long enough for an answer though. He ducked down and clamped his jaws around the alberto’s chest. Latte waited for the crunch, but it didn’t come. Blood Splatter sank his teeth in just enough to cause a lasting memory, but not enough to truly damage the female. She hissed and yelped, squirming free as he lifted his foot and jaws and frantically scrambling into the brush towards the male. Both ran off quickly once reunited.

Blood Splatter sighed and rubbed the blood off his muzzle against a tree. “I hate doing that. I hate having to scare them like that.” He said, guiltily. Latte winced at the blood in the acro’s mouth, panicking slightly before calming himself down. He really needed to get used to travelling with a large predator. He stepped confidently towards Blood Splatter’s lowered muzzle and nuzzled him reassuringly. Despite the theatrics, Blood Splatter really was just a huge softy. Latte felt somewhat guilty. The acro wouldn’t feel so bad right now if he wasn’t travelling with him. He chirped reassuringly at the acro, then gently redirected.

“You said you had a place to show me?” He asked. The acro lit up a little, raising his head.

“This way, I think I know a place that will make you feel more at home.”