[Trade] It’s The Thought That Counts

Viper gazed at the group of adolescents standing before her with an impassive expression. She walked slowly from the right to the left of the line, never taking her eyes off her offspring for a moment. This time, her usual maternal tenderness had been replaced by coldness and emotionless calculation. The adult female scrutinised each of her young, assessing their physical condition and behaviour. Her clutch was certainly no longer just a bunch of defenceless, inexperienced hatchlings – each of her offspring was now on the threshold of adulthood, their size almost matching Viper’s own. She felt as though it were only yesterday that she had witnessed her young hatching from their eggs, but she knew that wasn’t true – this group was far closer to leaving their family home than to the day they hatched.

At this age, young predators should already know practically everything they would need in their adult, often solitary lives. Each of them had to possess the knowledge and skills related to tracking prey, hunting, finding suitable shelter, fighting other dinosaurs… The list was endless. The young had been learning this for months, knowing that the time would soon come when these abilities would determine their survival. Viper knew this too – and she intended to meticulously check every area in which her young should be able to prove themselves.

Today was the perfect day for a little hunting test. Viper hadn’t provided her offspring with a fresh supply of food for several days, hoping that their growing hunger would spur the inexperienced carnivores to greater effort. She was right – most of her descendants were restless, feeling the constant, unpleasant cramps of an empty stomach. Each of them wanted to prove themselves as soon as possible and, if all went to plan, hunt down a hearty meal. The hungry adolescents would have preferred to set off on the hunt as a single, tight-knit group, but Viper could not allow that. She wanted to give her offspring the best possible chance of survival, so she could not be lenient with them. She had to meticulously assess the strengths and weaknesses of each dinosaur individually in order to provide them with personalised guidance.

Despite this, the female had no intention of making them hunt alone – it was still a little too early for that. She wanted to set them a challenge, but one that was suited to their skill level. Otherwise, it could end tragically. So Viper decided to send her young out to hunt in pairs. In some cases, she thought long and hard about which adolescents would benefit from working together; in others, her decision was almost instantaneous – and that was precisely the case with Octane and Barracuda.

From the very beginning, the two adolescents knew they would be paired up as a team. In fact, there was never any question of any other option. Octane and Barracuda had been practically inseparable since the day they first met, and there was no sign that this was about to change any time soon. Their partnership was therefore entirely natural.

The rest of the young ones stayed near the cave, which had continued to serve as their cosy shelter ever since they were just mere hatchlings. The inseparable pair set off towards the forest in search of their long-awaited prey. Silent and alert, Viper followed them like a predator on the prowl, keeping to one side yet watching their every move. Barracuda nervously swallowed his saliva – this quiet spying was stressing him out.

The first stage of the challenge set before them was, of course, to find prey. It didn’t seem like too difficult a task – the coastal forest was teeming with herbivores, especially now that spring was in full swing. If the determined pair had had enough time, they would surely have stumbled upon a potential victim of their own accord, without even trying to track it down. Their growing hunger, however, would not allow for such slowness – they wanted to hasten the inevitable as much as possible.

Barracuda had always been the better tracker. As the calmer and more reserved of the two, he was far better able to focus on the selective search for that one scent that interested him. So it was he who led the way.

Just as he had suspected, it didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for – after just a few minutes, a strong, fresh scent of a young shunosaurus, most likely a male, hit his nostrils. The herbivore was certainly healthy and in peak condition, but he was far from adulthood – Barracuda surmised that the mysterious male was an older juvenile, perhaps even entering adolescence. Hunting such an individual would certainly be a challenge, but it might be worth it – a hunted shunosaurus would be an ideal, hearty meal not only for Octane and Barracuda, but also for at least some of their siblings. If they succeeded, they could boast about it for a long time to come…

Although the banded cryolophosaurus still had some doubts (he didn’t want to overestimate his strength when the consequences of failure could be so serious…), Octane, as soon as he realised they were one step closer to a successful hunt, immediately let himself be carried away by the excitement. His joy and determination were infectious – Barracuda succumbed to them before he had a chance to properly weigh up the risks they were about to take.

They knew their potential prey was not far away. They also knew that shunosaurs were not among the most alert of dinosaurs – their size meant that few predators could pose a real threat to them, so none of them needed to develop keen hearing or observational skills. The pair of hunting adolescents could therefore close the gap between themselves and the unsuspecting herbivore without undue caution.

After just a few minutes of fairly brisk, lively walking, what they had been so eager to see came into view. Behind a screen of trees and multicoloured shrubs lay a pale patch with jagged, slightly blurred, fuzzy edges, which grew clearer with every step they took towards it. There was no doubt that this was the young male that Barracuda had tracked down. The Shunosaurus was covered in sparse, short, puffed-up feathers – clearly this was still juvenile plumage, which would be replaced by adult feathers over the coming years. The colour pattern marking his body was typical of herbivores – light on the underside and darker on the back, with a few light spots that helped him blend into his surroundings. Furthermore, darker stripes were slowly forming on his head, neck and tail, making him even harder to spot. The young male was well adapted to life in this densely overgrown with various vegetation place.

The two adolescents knew that the climax of the day was drawing near. All they had to do was lie in wait on either side of the clearing, then, in perfect synchronisation, burst out of the bushes at almost the exact same moment, determined to kill. Octane would attack from the front to distract the armed, imposing opponent. Barracuda, meanwhile, was to surprise the shunosaurus from the rear, leaping onto its back as quickly as possible. The plan seemed perfect.

Octane was already at the edge of the thick vegetation, ready to launch an attack at any moment. Seeing the male, distracted by grazing on the grass, the acrocanthosaurus decided this was the perfect moment. He leapt forward…

And stopped almost immediately. On the other side of the clearing, as if emerging from the underworld, two enormous, colourful figures suddenly appeared. Two other shunosaurus – this time, without a doubt, adults. The herbivores, with a loud, ear-splitting roar, reared up on their hind legs, their forelimbs swinging menacingly through the air. Octane let out a squeal of surprise and retreated the way he had come. A loud rustling from the surrounding bushes meant that Barracuda had immediately followed in his footsteps.

In their excitement, the inexperienced adolescents forgot to check whether their prey was actually as defenceless and vulnerable as they had assumed. The two males were not yet aware that sauropods tended to travel in herds and that solitary individuals were rarely encountered. Fortunately, they learnt this before they pounced on the young male.

Viper, still keeping a watchful eye on her offspring, sighed loudly, closing her eyes with a hint of irritation. Octane and Barracuda still had a lot to learn…

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