Various Writings

[Flatterina]

Fall Event Prompt - "Barclay's Monster Design"

Barclay was angry today. The other witches had made fun of him, again.
Fun of his stories. They were stupid, they'd said. Childish.
They didn't make sense.
Bah.
He'd show them.
His stories weren't the only magic he had, after all. He was a witch, and today he'd make them sorry.
Barclay closed his eyes, envisioning a monster to terrorize them. Huge, it would have to be. Gigantic. A leviathan, arisen from stone and wood, and the forest would quiver in its wake. A step of its foot would level the other witches' huts, and a lash of its tail would unroot the trees they'd seek shelter behind. Its eyes would smoke, haunting them in their nightmares and its maw would spit flame and rot over their precious vines and mushrooms.
Barclay's fingers twitched, arcane magic awakening within him, rushing to do as he willed.
A long body formed between his hands, dust and dirt and pebbles rising from the ground and coalescing into the monster he envisioned. It twisted and turned, longing to be set free, to destroy.
The witch opened his eyes and smiled benevolently at his creation, now reaching to his knee. The monster snapped at him as he tried to stroke the spines on his back and he pulled his hand back quickly.
Go, he whispered. Show them what a story can do.
The creature didn't need to be told twice, and set out in search for the first living beings in its vicinity. It wasn't long until it stumbled unto an anthill, hidden between a few branches and rotting leaves. It opened its maw, acid smoke beginning to pour out, when behind it and the facinatedly watching Barclay a twig snapped.
He turned sharply, ready to hex whoever it was, when he realized it was the Worldhopper.
"Oh, it's you. I'm, um, busy. Can you come back another time?", he said, nervously trying to shuffle in front of his creation which hissed furiously, biting his scarf in protest.
The Worldhopper regarded him with soft eyes, making him feel a bit stupid.
"I heard what Glume and Mycel said to you. I'm very sorry, I love your stories a lot", they said.
"You do?", Barclay asked incredulously. "You aren't saying that to make me feel better?"
The Worldhopper smiled, putting a hand on his arm. "I do. Would you mind telling me one? I'll give you conecakes if you make me the main character."
"Oh!", Barclay said, and laughed. "You do! Sure! Let's go to my hut, I'll tell you the best story you've ever heard!"
He started towards the path that would lead them back home when behind him his monster chirped in confusion behind him.
He turned back briefly. "I'm sorry, but I don't need you anymore", he said, regret in his voice. "I have a story to tell."
Turning back towards the Worldhopper, he snipped his fingers and his creation disintegrated back into dust and earth as the two of them walked away.

Writing Competition - "Ignorance Is Bliss"

The Wall had always been there, for as long as she could remember.
Tall, intimidating, overshadowing the village in which she lived.
When she was young, she had asked the Elders what was behind it.
“It is for our protection”, they said.
From what?
“The Others.”
What were they like?
“Different. Evil. They will kill you if they see you, and therefore we must protect ourselves.”
Why?
“That’s the way the Others are. Do not ask any more questions, child.”
But now she wasn’t a child anymore, and she was still curious. Who were the Others? What did they look like? Did they live like she and the other villagers did?
She had tried asking the Elders again, but they weren’t answering her, and so she spent her days staring at the Wall, ever wondering.
Her friend had told her to stop, to help with the harvest.
But she couldn’t stand the screams.
So she spend her time in solitude, just her and the indomitable Wall.

One day, she decided she would see where it led. Would it ever end? Would it ever change?
She packed herself a bag and set out, following the Wall wherever it would take her.
She walked for hours, and then days, and then weeks.
After a month or two, she found a village.
Her village.
What had happened?
Had she gotten turned around?
Impossible, she had been following the Wall – hadn’t she?
Where does the Wall lead?, she asked the Elders.
“Everywhere and nowhere”, they said.
I don’t understand, she said.
“All we need is here. Do not ask any more questions, child.”

But she wasn’t a child, anymore.
And so she decided she would find out what was on the other side.
She would climb the Wall and see the truth the others sought to hide.

That night, after the Elders and the rest of the village had gone to sleep, she left and travelled to a part of the Wall that had slightly crumbled with age she had sound during her journey.
There, she started her climb.
The Wall was high, and climbing would take a long time, but she was determined and curious, and nothing could stop her.

After a night and a day, she reached the top and rested.
Finally, she looked at the ground below.
And found a village. Just like hers.
It looked very small from where she was, and she started the climb back down, this time on the other side.

After a night and a day, she reached the bottom and entered the village.
It, too, had people living in it.
Though they were curious and confusing to her, for they looked peculiar.
Their skin was an unfamiliar shade of pink, and they had hair on top of their heads. They didn’t have the fangs her people had.
They didn’t look like evil monsters.
They looked small and helpless.
They were also screaming.

Some of them were gathering sticks and stones and started to throw them at her.
“Where did that come from?”, they yelled, and “How did it get over the Wall?”.
She didn’t want to hurt them, she said, and she had just been curious, but they didn’t listen to her.
“Kill it before it destroys us all!”, she heard someone scream.
She retreated, her back against the Wall, but there were no footholds on this side.
She would go back if they wanted her to, she said, but they didn’t listen.
Some villagers arrived with hunting knives, the ones she and her people used for the harvest, and she knew she had made a mistake.
They advanced on her and she started pleading, promising to go back, and to forget about them, but it was as if they couldn’t hear her.
She should have listened to her Elders, she knew.
These were monsters, though they looked weak, with their tiny teeth and short nails.
She should have stayed on her side. She should never have come.
As the Others raised their weapons, she couldn’t help but think how blissful her life in ignorance had been.

Commission - "Nova and Mara"

Nova shivered despite all the furs she had piled on top of herself. Living in a cave was great in summer, but in winter she was often freezing. She pulled her hyena plushie - a gift from Mara - closer to herself as she trembled.
If only Mara were here! She could always count on her girlfriend to keep her warm and cozy even in the coldest days.
Nova loved watching the snow fall outside through the windows in the ceiling, nestled into Maras arms.
Briefly she pondered getting up to make some tea but quickly trashed the idea. It was just too cold!
The floor in their bedroom was covered in blankets and furs, but the walls often felt like ice to the touch, absorbing all the warmth. No, better wait until Mara came back.
Her love was late, but Nova never worried about her. Why, she was the ruler and goddess of all who lived here! No one could harm her even if they tried, and no one would dare anyway. Mara was easy to anger and sometimes lost control of herself, obliviating those around her and levelling parts of the forest.
She wasn't ever dangerous to Nova, though. Nova trusted her girlfriend with her life.

Thinking of Mara made her feel all warm inside and her eyes were just beginning to drift shut when she heard faint steps outside. Steps she'd have known anywhere, steps that she would feel in her heart if she went deaf.
Forgetting about the freezing temperatures, she shrugged off the furs she had buried herself in and hurried towards the cave entrance.
"You're back!" she yelled, holding open her arms as she sped towards her girlfriend. "Do you know how cold home is without you?"
Mara laughed as she gathered Nova in her arms and held her close to her chest.
"You mean, cold in your heart because you love and missed me so much?"
"Well, yes, obviously, my love," Nova replied and gave Mara a quick kiss before snuggling back into her chest fur and sighing. "But mainly because you're a literal furnace!"
"What would you do without me, hm?," the hyena asked, setting Nova back on the ground. She took off her jacket and carefully draped it around her tiny girlfriend's shoulders before continuing. "If you give me a second, I'll start a fire. I brought some meat, too, all that shivering must have made you hungry."
The cat struggled with the jacket for a second and finally managed to wrap the sleeves around her like two oversized scarves. It was taller than she was, but blissfully warm and smelling deliciously like hyena goddess.
"Do I want to know who that was? Did we know them?," she asked, her eyes barely peeking over the collar.
"No worries, darling, I know you don't like that. I got a bear after I was done with some troublemakers. It was so wonderfully bloody, you should have seen it," Mara said, genuine delight in her voice.
Nova rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I've seen you in action often enough. You should rather tell me if you've brought me anything cool!"
The hyena had built a tent of wood in a pit in the middle of the clearing in front of the cave while talking and blew on it to ignite it. Once she was satisfied with the inetnsity of the flames she got up to get the spits from inside the cave.
Nova scooted closer to the crackling fire and narrowed her eyes at Mara. "Hey! Stop ignoring me! Have you brought anything? Don't tell me you forgot!"
When her girlfriend came back, she was grinning mischievously. "Come on, love. I'm just teasing you."
With her free hand she flicked Nova's nose. "When have I ever forgotten to bring you loot? Just be patient, I found something really pretty this time."
Nova wrinkled her nose as she impatiently watched Mara set up the spits and start roasting the meat, fat sizzling, sparks flying.
"Now come here, you grumpy tiny kitty," Mara smiled as she picked Nova in her jacket up again and cradled her close to her with one hand, looking for the jacket's pocket with the other and getting out a small leather pouch.
"Open it, love!"
Whiskers twitching, Nova obliged and held her breath as she undid the knots.
In the pouch she found a ring. A thin, silvery metal was made to look like intertwining branches, with tiny leaves studded with even tinier emeralds.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, holding it close to her. "Thank you so much!"
"Small, but oh, so beautiful. Just like you."
Nova sighed as Mara kissed her, butterflies soaring through through her stomach as if it was her very first kiss. She raised her hands to her girlfriend's face and once again couldn't think of anything she had done in her past life to make her deserve the love of this literal goddess. Mara was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"I can't wait to spend eternity with you," she whispered in her lover's ear.
"And I with you", Mara replied. "You're mine forever."

[Flatterina]

Commission - Vashiti and the Tribe of the Jagged Stones

The Tribe of the Jagged Stones hadn’t always been the way it was now – open and friendly, the cats working together and supporting each other. Vasiti very well remembered the uproar after Rinascere had named her his successor, her being at once the youngest and also the first female ever prospective Chief the Tribe had seen. Few but her closest friends had approved of the choice. There hadn’t been open mutiny, but more than a few of the Elites had moaned about the incoming demise and failure of the once-proud Tribe, or so they had said.
After Rinascere’s accident she had been close to her breaking point, debating stepping back and leaving a tomcat to lead the Tribe back to stability. When a fire had swept through the forest and threatened the camp, though, she had been the first to see the signs and to insist to evacuate the cats to safety. Many of the Ancients who had doubted her the loudest now owed their lives to Vashiti’s quick decision making, and thanks to her was it that no souls were lost during the catastrophe.
She had also been the one to spearhead the rebuilding efforts, putting in the longest hours dragging branches from all over the forest to the clearing where their camp had been, now reduced to ashes.
It had taken a couple weeks of work from everyone between the youngest of Trainees and the fittest of Ancients to restore the campsite and the dens to their former glory, but eventually the place felt like home again.
The nearly averted crisis had managed to bind them all together and given Vashiti the opportunity to prove herself to the Tribe of the Jagged Stones. Since then, she’d never had to fight for silence during Tribe meetings, she never again had her decisions publicly questioned and Elites obeyed when she told them to go on patrol instead of hunting to spite her. It wasn’t all perfect now, the Ancients sometimes still told tales of the time when only tomcats had led the tribe, and how much more glorious those times had been. Vashiti knew she still had some ways to go, but she was happy with where and who she was now, and she knew that Rinascere had made the right choice.

Commission - Xanthos' Personality - Same Credit

Xanthos is generally an easy-going tom, almost always upbeat and cheerful. Even as a kit, he preferred playing catch or going exploring with others over playfighting. He is very happy that he decided to become a Shaman as he loves helping others and detests fighting. Whenever there is a fight about to break out in the camp, he will be there and try to break it up peacefully. His good humour is a good way to relieve tension after fights, skirmishes, or arguments. Some might say he talks a bit too much but to him, silence is uncomfortable. He is hard to provoke, but ferociously loyal to his tribe, family, and friends. Insults aimed at himself he shrugs off with a joke, but attacking those dear to him is a sure way to make him angry. He is a decidedly bad fighter, but a master of passive aggressiveness and evil glares. His positive ways make him well liked and well connected within the tribe, so everyone who seriously angers him will find themselves isolated until they apologize. He is quick to forgive and forget with his clanmates and will never refuse aid to someone out of spite. Other cats seek his counsel often, as he usually knows exactly the right things to say to make them feel better, be it a heartbreak or a death. Although he knows that, since he is gay, he will probably never have kits of his own, he loves them and enjoys teaching curious kits and trainees about the more harmless herbs.

Commission - Xanthos' History - Same Credit

Xanthos was born one cold winter night to Alessa and Serpent, a pair of warriors in the Tribe of the Jagged Stones. His sister Blue did not make it through her first night, so he was ferociously protected by both his parents, who started training him early so he could follow in their footsteps. It quickly became clear, however, that his destiny did not lie in the Elite’s den. When his parents were not looking, he often snuck off to peek into the Shaman’s den, pestering Kotha into letting him watch her sort and prepare herbs. It surprised no one when he, at six months, chose to become the Shaman’s apprentice. Alessa and Serpent initially were disappointed in their son but quickly came around when Xanthos quick thinking saved an injured warrior’s life when Kotha was out collecting herbs. He, since then, thinks of himself as a warrior fighting for his tribemate’s health and safety.
He fell in love with his friend Kasai when he was around one year old and the two of them entered into a secret romantic relationship. In these months, Xanthos was the happiest he had ever been, although their love was overshadowed by the need to keep everything hidden from the prying eyes of their conservative Tribe. Eventually though, he noticed himself neglecting his duties as Shaman to spend time with his partner, so he forced himself to end things with Kasai and make the Tribe his first priority again. They remain very good friends and he sometimes struggles with his lingering feelings.

Commission - Physical Description of Lars, the Bunny Sphinx

Lars is a bunny sphinx, characterized by having the body and the ears of a bunny and the head of a human. He is around one foot tall, marking him as a rather short and stocky member of his species, though he is as quick and strong as the rest of them. His skin is light brown, and his face is dotted with faint freckles in different shades of slightly darker brown. His dark, curly hair is bound in a messy bun, held together by a red hair band. When opened, his hair springs up into one big, fluffy ball. Two straight bunny ears, round at the tip and almost as long again as the head itself, peek out from between the hair. His fur is of a uniform grey. Lars’ eyes are a light blue, the whites of his eyes tinged with yellow, and his eyebrows are thick and squared and the same colour as his hair. He has the ever-growing front teeth of a hare, but humanly formed molars. The fur on his chest, opposed to the rest of his body, is fluffy and longer in comparison, and much quicker to tangle. Everywhere else it is uniformly rather short, the only other exception being his tail tuft. Despite being short and dense, it is still soft to the touch.
Differing from many other bunny sphinxes he has no actual bunny tail, only a quite short and flat tuft of fur. One special feature about him are his opposable thumbs at each front paw, allowing him to grab and hold things. His claws are of average length and need to be shortened regularly.

Commission - Lars' Personality - Same Credit

Lars is a silly bunny, but he would probably bite you before letting you tell anyone else. Brought up by his father and, later, his stepfather, who both shared the mindset that doing what other people tell you to is a sign of weakness, he, too, maintains an air of stubbornness in all situations, never budging in discussions and not doing things that are asked of him on purpose. His messy upbringing with multiple headstrong siblings who liked to shove him around when their parents were not looking [and sometimes if they were, his mother and stepfather stopped pretending to care at some point] taught him not to rely on the help of others, even if they are in a position where they should be there for him. He has built a high wall around his heart and keeps it up in the company of almost everyone, trusting only those who have proven themselves to him. Only those closest friends know he is scared most of the time, and his brave face is just a mask he had to build up over the years and months of his adolescence.
To protect himself and to not let anyone see or even think he might be scared of anything or anyone, he is quick to lash out and attack others before their words or actions can hurt him, which sometimes causes him to act brashly and say things that hurt others. Those words he usually regrets later, but unless the person is exceptionally important to him, he would never approach them and admit his own weakness by apologizing.
He may be aggressive towards those he perceives as potential threats, but when he sees younger or helpless creatures needing help, he is not afraid to step in and defend them, knowing how it feels when everyone watches you being hurt. He now has a hard shell, but he will never forget how his parents made him feel in his childhood. Whenever he stands in front of someone weaker, his fear vanishes, replaced by a fierce need to protect.
When he is not defending others from injustice or locked in a never-ending argument because he just will not back down, he enjoys just laying in the sun and not doing anything, except maybe eat from time to time. His father plans for him and his siblings to take over the task of defending the warren one day, but Lars is not having any of that. He has had enough of his family and has grown to appreciate a bit of peace and quiet without anyone shouting or arguing or beating him up. He is quite lazy in general and always somewhere else when someone is looking for someone to help with cleaning, cooking, or carrying things.
Most of the time he manages to get away with it, since, as he himself very well knows, he is quite attractive, possessing a few features many Sphinx desire. His bravery in the face of injustice is one of these things, but also his soft fur, sharp features, and, according to the female Sphinxes in the warren next to his, his cute freckles. He does not abuse his looks to make fun of others, though. Lars just takes a second after drinking to admire his own looks in the water and get on people’s nerves a bit.
Despite all his troubling traits, in his heart he can be a sweetheart, too. He is not fond of showing that side of him to others, though, always afraid they might hurt him or stab him in the heart if he trusts him. If someone has proven themselves to him, though, he can let his guard down and his inner goofball out. His friends usually start to regret their decision to get close to him at that point, as he loves cracking bad jokes. Like, really bad.

[Flatterina]

Commission - Alzor's Kinship Quest

“Get up,” a harsh voice said, ripping Alzor from his dreams. He had been with his family, safely laying in the nest their parents had made for the three siblings, Aralt and Itzak snuggled close to him. It had been a nice dream. Awake, he found he often could not recall their voices and faces anymore, but in his dreams it all came back to him.
“What is it this time?” he growled as he shook himself awake and opened his eyes, glaring at the raptor in front of him. “Are we going to rip some families apart? Kidnap some hatchlings?”
“Careful,” Balder hissed, slowly stepping closer to him. “I might forget myself if you continue provoking me like this. You forget you’re all on your own here, so far from home.”
“Thanks to who?” Alzor murmured under his breath as he got up. Being a cryolophosaurus he would grow much bigger than Balder one day, and he longed for the opportunity to rip the scheming raptor apart. Today was not that day, though, and wouldn’t be for a while, since the older dinosaur was both taller than him still and also more experienced and cunning in a fight. He had been forced to find that out the hard way during one of his multiple attempts of flight a few months earlier. A few scars still decorated his torso where Balder had punished him.
“Today is an important day!” the raptor crowed; his demeanour suddenly completely changed. Alzor had rarely seen him in this good a mood and it made him wary. Baldor flicked his tail towards the half-eaten carcass of a wild horse the two of them had hunted down yesterday evening. “Eat, you have to look presentable today, and strong.”
“What for?” Alzor asked him, narrowing his eyes. Ever since they had left the mountains the two of them had been completely alone, always staying out of sight of other dinosaurs that might have recognized the hatchling. They were far enough from the place of his birth now that Balder wasn’t as cautious anymore, and he had stopped leading them through dense forests and shoving him behind bushes and trees whenever another creature came close, but he still hadn’t been allowed to talk to anyone but the raptor in ages. So, what was this business of looking presentable?
“We’re going to see your new mother,” the cream dinosaur declared, showing his sharp teeth in a grin as he watched Alzor for a reaction. All sleepiness gone, Alzor’s head shot up and he sprang to his legs, his whole body under tension. “New mother? What?”
“Well, you know as well as I know your family isn’t really looking for you anymore. It has been months, after all, I guarantee they have forgotten you already. So, I took upon myself the responsibility to find you a new mother, isn’t that terribly nice of me? You certainly don’t deserve it, that’s for sure.”
With a roar Alzor threw himself at Balder, trying to wipe the arrogant smirk off his face and aiming his claws at the other one’s neck. Balder though was fast, way too fast for the inexperienced younger dinosaur, and sprang out of his way, having anticipated an attack. Alzor tried to reorient himself and felt a sharp pain in his side. Balder had scratched him and now attacked him from behind, jumping on his back with his strong hind legs and forcing Alzor’s head onto the ground. Alzor struggled to rise but could not lift the weight of the bigger and heavier raptor, and quickly gave up trying. Instead, he tried violently shaking his body from left to right and disturb Balder’s balance.
“Get off and fight me,” Alzor snarled. “Coward.”
“I don’t think I will do that. It will not end well for you, and you need to look good today! Did you forget already? Maybe I should kill you and go back for one of your brothers. Would you like that? How do you think your mother would feel if she lost two of her hatchlings?”
“I hate you. I will kill you.”
“Sure, sure, I’m certain you think you will. If it helps you to feel better. Now,” Balder said as he shifted his weight, grinding Alzor’s face into the dirt once more, “are you done with these childish games? You are making us late, and she will not appreciate that.”
“Yes,” the young dinosaur winced.
“What was that? I am afraid I could not hear you. So sorry.”
“Yes! Yes, I am done. You are stronger than me. Now will you please get off of me?”
“Finally. Let us get going.” With that, the raptor stepped down from Alzor’s back and took off towards the trees, leaving him to get up on his own. Wishing that looks could kill, he contented himself with glaring at Balder angrily and followed quickly.

The two dinosaurs broke through a few brambles that lined a clearing in the forest. “Best behaviour, now,” Balder hissed before raising his voice and calling out. “Nerthus!”
The cream dinosaur paced in tight circles, which Alzor found almost comical, yet scary at the same time. He had never seen the raptor nervous. Was this Nerthus that dangerous? And he was supposed to stay with her from now on?
“She lived here when I left. She said she would wait. Where is she? Nerthus?”
Seeing that Balder was busy with talking to himself and calling out every now and again, Alzor used the opportunity to slowly step back towards the trees, hoping the other dinosaur would be too distracted to see or hear him leave.
Indeed, Balder never once looked at him. Instead Alzor felt his tail bump into another feathered body behind him. He whipped around, now face to face with a female raptor that eyed him coldly.
“Does this little coward belong to you, Balder?” she asked, her voice loud enough to cross the space between them and the anxious male.
“Nerthus!” With a relieved look on his face, he bounded over to them and touched her head with his. “I was worried you had left.”
“Didn’t I tell you I would wait for you? Although you have made me wait a long time. It is only because you have promised me a gift that I am still here.”
Balder laughed nervously. “I have, and I have brought it. This here,” he laid a clawed hand on Alzor’s shoulder and pulled him closer, “is little Alzor, an orphan I rescued deep in the mountains.”
The juvenile ripped himself free and took a few hurried steps back. “You lie! You took me!”
The raptor smiled sadly. “I fear the circumstances of his parent’s death were very traumatic. I found him curled into what was left of his mother’s body, she had been ripped apart by mountain lions, his siblings not far away. He was the only one who survived and would surely have starved if I had not taken care of him. He is still confused.”
Alzor was so angry he could barely speak. “Traumatic? I – you – What? You took me! From my nest! You – I hate you!”
Balder shook his head, glancing at Nerthus. “The poor child. Will you take care of him with me? I know you have wanted a hatchling for a long time. True, he is no raptor, and he seems troubled after having lost his mother, but I am sure we will be able to teach him our ways and traditions.”
The female raptor looked at Alzor for a second, then at Balder. “Oh, don’t tell me you have a soft heart under all that cruelty. You know exactly how I long to have hatchlings to care for. I see right through your scheming ways. Nevertheless,” she turned her eyes on Alzor again and with a shiver he felt like she was analysing him “I do appreciate this gift. He is small, but he will grow tall and strong. He will be able to protect and fight for us.”
She touched her nose to Balder’s jaw. “Thank you.”
Alzor felt like crying out. He did not want this. He did not want to be here. He did not want to live with raptors. Yet he knew he only had himself to blame. If he had not ventured out from the nest at night, if he had waited for his mother to return, if he had been less stupid and adventurous, all of this would not have happened. Still, he had not forced Balder to take him, had not asked him to, had not given him any reason to steal him other than that he had been alone. So, what had he done to deserve this? Or was life just this unfair?
He wished nothing more than to be back in their nest that night, and, instead of leaving to explore, being able to turn around, sigh, and snuggle closer to his siblings. He missed them, annoying as they had sometimes been, and missed his mother, though she had always worried and fussed and protected them too fiercely. He suddenly was not sure when he had last told her how important he was to her and how much he valued her, or if he had done that ever at all.
Regret washed over him, and he felt himself starting to shake.
“Oh, child! Alzor, was it?” Nerthus shot a questioning look at Balder, who nodded, and then hurried closer to the distraught juvenile. “It is all a bit much, is it not? Come here. You are safe now. We will protect you from those that hurt your mother and your siblings.”
These words made Alzor whine, and Nerthus winced. She hesitated, then closed her feathered arm around him. “Come, come, stop that.” The raptor tried making a hushing sound as she stiffly tried to calm Alzor.
The young dinosaur wanted to rip free of her embrace, but something stopped him. He realized that this was the first time in a very long time that he was being touched with something resembling affection. Nerthus’ feathers felt strange on his skin and tingled his nose, but the raptor was soft and warm, and he needed that feeling, even though he knew that even if he closed his eyes, he could not fool himself into believing it was his mother who held him.
“He really did steal me from my family. They are alive,” he whispered, hoping balder would not hear.
“Shush, my dear,” Nerthus answered soothingly. “I know you have had a difficult time. But we are here to take care of you now. We are your family. Now it is time for you to calm down and let me introduce you to your new home.”
The female dinosaur let go of him and turned away, taking a few steps before looking back at him. Alzor had not moved. Annoyance flickered over her face.
“Enough with this childish behaviour. You are not fresh from the egg anymore. I think the first thing we should teach you is to get a hold of your emotions. You are a predator, not the prey, and a predator does not cry.”
While Nerthus had been talking, Balder had walked up behind him and now whacked him in the shoulder with his tail. “When your mother tells you to go, you go. Is that understood or do I need to remind you of the rules?” he asked, bringing his face close to Alzor’s, showing off his glinting teeth.
The juvenile gritted his teeth as he stared back at the older dinosaur. “It is understood.”
Nerthus had watched the two males, unimpressed by Balder’s harsh words. “Very well. Now that that is settled, I can introduce you to where you will live these next few months,” she said while leading the other two through the woods. “I prefer moving around to staying in one place, but I think until we have taught you some basic survival instincts we should stay here where you cannot kill yourself on accident or get lost.”
They soon arrived at a slightly smaller clearing that the one they had come from, surrounded on the far side by a small cliffside, maybe twice as tall as Alzor. From the top ferns and brambles spilled over the edge, covering the packed earth and stone of the wall facing them. He heard a small stream flowing not too far off to his right.
“Here we are,” Nerthus declared, head held high. “I’m glad I found this place. I have not seen any other dinosaurs get close to here yet, and there is plenty of prey around. We will do well here.”
“Nerthus, this is a wonderful place, and well protected. If you allow, might I stay here with you as well? I do not trust Alzor not to leave in his sleep yet. On our way here he has tried to go back to the mountains a few times, even though in his heart he knows,” Balder cast a warning look at the juvenile, “that it is futile, and they are long dead. I would not want him to attack enemies to your camp, and we could watch him better.”
Alzor glared back at the raptor, though he held his tongue. He knew he would not be believed whatever he said.
Nerthus sidled closer to Balder and touched her nose to his.
“You have made me the greatest gift I have ever received. I would be glad to have you by my side.”
Balder looked away, seeming to Alzor almost a bit embarrassed.
The female raptor watched him with amusement in his eyes before she turned back to Alzor.
“Very well. Let me show you the cave in which we will make your nests. I have not been prepared for your arrival, so you will need to gather materials for yourself, but I can show you where you will make your new home.”
She turned and headed toward the cliffside, where she pushed aside the hanging greenery and revealed a narrow cave entrance. Nerthus lead the way inside and Alzor stumbled after her, his eyes straining to adjust in the sudden darkness. The cave they were standing in was neither very tall not very wide, but Nerthus’ nest lay comfortably in the middle and he could imagine two more nests easily fitting inside the space. The ceiling was tall enough for all of them to stand up, but yet Alzor felt uncomfortable. He had never slept in a cave before, and he did not like to be enclosed on all sides. Balder had entered after him and was now blocking the entrance, making Alzor feel even more wary.
“I think Alzor should sleep in the very back. That way he has to pass both of us if he wants to sneak out and get all of us into trouble,” the male raptor proposed and Nerthus nodded.
“You may be my child now, but don’t you dare getting any of us in trouble. The best way to raise a hatchling is with clear rules and a very firm claw, always remember that,” Nerthus said, looking at him. Alzor felt small before her eyes but managed a hushed “Yes”.
“Good. Now that that is clear I think you should get outside and start gathering for your nests. I will hunt in the meantime; the sun is close to setting.”
“You heard your mother,” Balder growled, apparently relishing in watching how Alzor winced when he had used the word. “Let us get going.”
He left the cave through the small entrance they had used to enter and set off into the trees, Alzor hurrying behind. No matter how soft the nest, he knew he would not sleep well tonight. He dreaded the days and moths to come, not letting himself think of the next few years. He just needed to tell himself that he would find a way to leave, to flee back to his family who was certainly still looking for him desperately. Or at least he hoped they were. It had been months now, after all. But if he let himself believe that they had stopped missing him, then he would lose all hope, that he knew.
At least Nerthus wasn’t outright cruel. Maybe, if he behaved and proved himself, he could fool her into letting him out of her sight, and then he could go home. Just maybe.
So for now, he started gathering moss and ferns and pictured the mountains every time he closed his eyes.