[Trade] Intriguing Finding in the Bushes

Viper raised her head, thoughtfully drawing in the crisp morning air through her nostrils. She had to make sure there were no dangers lurking in the shadows ahead that might threaten her and her clutch. Fortunately, she detected no alarming scents. When the female took a step forward and, with a slow, subtle movement, glanced behind her, she signalled to the rest that the path was clear.

At that very moment, the bushes behind her shook with the commotion swirling within them. From among the leaves, several hatchlings scampered out with quick, though clumsy, steps, chirping like little birds caught up in something. The young ones crowded around their mother’s legs, joyfully welcoming her closeness. Being left behind without her, even for such a brief moment, was an exceptionally unpleasant feeling for them.

After a brief, affectionate greeting, the whole group moved on, carefully choosing their path. Viper knew that travelling with a horde of such small chicks was extremely risky. She could not afford to cross open ground or any territory that might be difficult to navigate – in such places, a moment’s inattention would be enough for one of the young acrocanthosaurus to fall prey to some ravenous predator. Viper intended to fight any potential opponent, but it would be difficult for her to fend off a swift, skilful attack from one of the flying species of reptiles.

The female decided to leave her previous territory with the arrival of spring. Although the place where they had previously lived offered protection from the cold and unwelcome visitors, it was not particularly abundant in food, especially during the warmer months. Most of the herbivores that Viper hunted had moved south, closer to the island’s coastal zone, in search of lush, green pastures. Such was the life of a predator that she had to track her prey constantly. The female, however, faced a difficult dilemma – if she were here alone, she could choose almost any place to call home from today onwards. After all, she was now a fully-grown, strong individual belonging to the species that was the apex predator in these parts – not much could threaten her. But when her helpless, tiny hatchlings were involved…

One of them, the most brightly coloured, unexpectedly stepped out of line, miraculously avoiding being trampled by his mother. Octane staggered, chirping softly. He wanted to put an end to this protracted journey. Viper looked at this tiny creature, visible from afar due to his bright green colouring. Practically any predator would have considered him a tasty morsel.

The forest through which they were walking slowly thinned out, offering less and less of a sense of security. Despite this, Viper pressed on, knowing that soon the forest would give way entirely to a wide, rocky plateau, which would later seamlessly transform itself into greyish cliffs blocking access to the sea. This place, if they could find a comfortable spot where the hatchlings could safely spend most of the day in hiding, would provide them with constant access to food and a relative absence of other large predators.

Octane continued to lead the group of his brothers and sisters, walking step by step behind his mother. The male, though still too young to focus his attention on any one thing for long, scanned his surroundings alertly, searching for anything that might interest him. This proved a far simpler task than he had thought.

The male, covered in bright green scales spotted an intriguing splash of colour amongst the forest undergrowth. Dark, large leaves surrounded it, as if determined to protect its secret at all costs, but Octane’s eyes were too sharp not to notice this greenish speck, brighter and more saturated than its surroundings. He was too curious to ignore it.

Octane made sure that Viper, focused on her task, was staring straight ahead, paying little attention to the individual members of her small family herd. Taking advantage of the adult female’s inattention, he trotted clumsily towards a clump of vegetation that drew him like a magnet with its enigmatic contents. The male wanted to leap into the thick bushes in search of the answer to this mystery, but something stopped him.

A sudden loud, shrill screech, followed immediately by a rustling sound coming straight from the clump of vegetation. Octane jumped back in fright so violently that he landed on the ground. Viper rushed to his aid at once. The female was ready for battle, baring her deadly sharp teeth. The adult acrocanthosaurus roared terrifyingly, the loud sound causing the ground beneath their feet to vibrate.

Viper stood crouched over the vegetation, waiting for any movement from the mysterious creature hidden in the undergrowth. Only after a few seconds did another rustling sound come from deep within, followed by a quiet, pitifully sad squeak. Viper tilted her head, surprised by the sound – the frightened whimpering didn’t sound at all like a fearsome predator. The bewildered female began to part the thick vegetation with her snout in search of the source of the crying. She didn’t have to look for long.

Lying amongst the bushes was a small, greenish, speckled egg with a smooth surface. The shell was cracked into many pieces, and the inside of the egg had already dried out completely, suggesting that it had shattered some time ago. The reason for this was plain to see.

Next to the cracked shell lay a small, banded creature with a distinctive white patch covering most of his tiny head. Viper looked at the hatchling uncertainly. The little one appeared to be a member of a carnivorous species, but it was clear that he was not an acrocanthosaurus. The female wasn’t quite sure what she was actually looking at.

Meanwhile, Octane had shaken off his initial shock and got to his feet. His mother’s relative calm made him realise that whatever he’d found in the bushes wasn’t dangerous. So he ventured closer. When he saw this mysterious, unusual-looking creature, he frowned in surprise and instinctively took a step back. The hatchling was smaller and slimmer than him, but like him, he walked on two legs and had a back dotted with small, hard osteoderms that would one day turn into sharp, menacing looking spikes. The male liked this feature of the hatchling’s appearance. Although Octane usually stood out sharply due to his unusual appearance, next to the young, enigmatic cryolophosaurus he looked nothing more than just as strange – the smaller predator was covered in black stripes and thicker bands encircling his entire body and red, desaturated patches with jagged edges. A truly intriguing creature.

Viper looked around, but found neither a nest nor any other eggshells in the immediate vicinity that might suggest the lone hatchling had any siblings. The little cryolophosaurus seemed to have been abandoned before he even hatched. With a sigh, the female looked at the sizeable group standing behind her – since she was already looking after so many young, what difference would one more chick make?

“Come on, child – you can go with us, if you want,” Viper said in a tender, though somewhat weary, voice.

The banded male looked at her with his red eyes, full of curiosity but also fear. With a slight hint of uncertainty, he glanced from side to side – he too had come to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing here for him. His only chance of survival was to join this unusual herd.

“Hi! I’m Octane! And what’s your name!?” The young acrocanthosaurus’ overly excited voice practically pulsed in their ears.

The young cryolophosaurus tilted his head, not knowing what to say. In fact, no one had ever given him a name – the hatchling had only hatched a dozen or so hours ago and had never seen any other dinosaur he could call his guardian.

“It’s Barracuda. I’m going to name you Barracuda,” sighed Viper.

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