Sturm's Territorium - Die etwas andere Dinosaurierseite

Several hours pass, and Amber wakes up. The other four are still in a deep sleep. Something isn't right, though. Amber sniffs the air. There is a small hint of something, of someone, several someones, in the air around her. A very small hint, but it is still there. Amber sniffs again. Deinonychus. There are Deinonychus somewhere around the area. Amber had never really liked Deinonychus. There were two local Deinonychus packs, and since Amber hadn't been around any Utahraptors in years, at least, not of whom she would have cared to associate with, they made it hard to find food sometimes. The two local packs didn't care for Utahraptor much, although they weren't hostile. But Amber still couldn't get meat from their kills, as they would never let her, since they saw her as either a threat or an annoyance. So, Amber had given up trying.

Amber keeps sniffing at the air, and the Deinonychus scent is growing stronger. Sometimes this happened, but they tended to leave her alone, most of the time, just so long as she left them alone. They'll probably go away, she thinks. She will wait a minute or two and then, if the scent continues getting stronger, she will wake someone up. She continues sniffing the air, and the scent does get stronger, much stronger.

Amber nudges her sister. "Minstelae, wake up, someone is here," she whispers to her sister. Minstelae doesn't wake up. She nudges harder this time. "Wake up!" she hisses. This time, Minstelae wakes up.

"Wha?" Minstelae looks around, kind of irritated, aroused from her sleep. She then inhales and understands why it is that Amber is waking her up.

"I thought they would go away, they usually do, but they seem to be approaching us. Probably nothing to worry about, but..." she trails off as she hears a twig crack in the underbrush. Minstelae gets up, standing tall, though not able to let one last yawn escape from her still-tired being.

"Who is out there?" Minstelae demands of the Deinonychus. "And what do you want?"

A Deinonychus female, a dark greenish-blue in color with vibrant yellow eyes and a gold and red feather-crest, steps out from the underbrush and takes a few steps forward, but doesn't get close enough to get her head bitten off. Minstelae can tell that there are more in hiding, though, and also notices that this female Deinonychus has a rather cocky, self-assured gait.

~Hey, take it easy. We're not here to cause trouble,~ the female speaks in her own tongue. At this moment, the other three are waking up, startled by the confrontation, and stand all the way up, noticing who is out there. Minstelae doesn't know Deinonychus tongue, and she doubts that the others do, either. Still, her focus remains on the Deinonychus female, unmoving.

Another Deinonychus comes out of hiding, a male. He is dark green, almost black, and has no apparent markings, but has a bright red feather-crest tipped with black along the top of his head and neck, and very penetrating violet-blue eyes. He nudges the female with his snout and says in perfect Utahraptor language, "Hey, speak their language, already."

The female looks at the male briefly. ~Oh, come on, I was only wanting to have a little fun, they obviously don't know our language,~ she smiles slightly, then averts her attention back to the four Utahraptors, with a more serious expression on her face.

She takes another step forward, and ducks her head in greeting. "Hello. We mean no harm. You probably do not recognize us," she says.

Minstelae continues looking down at the two smaller Deinonychus. Now, this was a first. Deinonychus talking to them, and in a seemingly peaceful manner. Hope this isn't some sort of trick, she thinks. She remembered that the Daya Clan had hated the Deinonychus but then, they hated everyone, so she could not accurately judge from them.

Minstelae decides to stand her ground. "No harm? Then why are there others still in hiding?" she asks suspiciously.

The female chirps to the others still in hiding. Two more join them.

"Is that all of you?" Minstelae asks them, still suspicious. The female, evidently the head female, nods. Minstelae decides to trust them for the time being.

The Deinonychus female dips her head in respect, then continues. "They were only unsure of you. There are no more in hiding."

Minstelae sniffs the air carefully, to make sure, still not taking her eyes off of the four smaller raptors. There don't seem to be any others in hiding. She decides to let them continue what they are saying, to hear them out.

The head female continues. "In case you haven't noticed, and I don't think that you have... we are the same group who helped you escape last night."

Minstelae blinks. "Helped us escape? Who...? That was you?"

"Yes. That it was. And we followed you here. From a careful distance, of course. So that you wouldn't know we were following you. I am Lakura, of the Shrenaea Clan."

Minstelae is confused, still. "Lakura? I am Minstelae... but why... specifically, did you help us? What are we to you?" she asks, tilting her head to one side and squinting an eye in confused thought. She had just assumed that Lakura had reasons other than helping them, that perhaps they were just causing trouble, or that they hated that pack, or that they had reasons for attacking that particular Utahraptor the previous night.

"I know who you are. My consort, Shanlee here, had been watching you, when you were with the Daya. He had been sent there originally to spy, to see what the Daya were up to, but then started noticing you four," she nods at Minstelae, Khalil, Filia and Jabari. "He came back and told us about your erm... advanced speech patterns, you know, the way you talked using eye-blinks and claw-twitches," she smirks.

Minstelae interrupts. "And here we were trying to be discreet about it," she says, a slight irritation in her voice.

Lakura grins slyly, and the male Deinonychus speaks. "That you were. Just that a Deinonychus biding his time watching a pack of Utahs on a periodic basis tends to observe things after a while. After all, you four were always in the same general area, so it became evident after a while."

Minstelae looks at the male standing next to Lakura, evidently this Shanlee that she had mentioned. "Yes, but why? And what do you want from us?" she asks, still wishing that they would get to the point.

Shanlee speaks. "We need your help. We know that you dislike the Daya, and they have done nothing but cause problems for our kind, as well as yours. They are too large, and too unruly, and often cause problems for everyone," he says, knowing that Minstelae will understand this, her having been with that particular clan long enough to.

"Basically, we would like your help in trimming them down to size, just a bit," Lakura says smugly. "Do you ever wonder why there aren't too many Utahraptor packs in their general area? Or why, for the most part, our kind stays out here? There is only so much hunting that can be done out here, you know," she says, in a more reflective tone.

Minstelae can see what they are getting at. The Deinonychus want the five of them to help get rid of some of the Daya Clan. There is no way they can do that now, they are simply too weak at the moment. She looks at Lakura. "I understand, but do we really look like we are in the condition to attack the Daya? We are still weak, tired and hungry. Not to mention, the Daya Clan is way too large for only five Utahs and four of your kind."

Lakura grins. "Yes, I am well aware of that. I did not mean now. And as for the pack size, I've got my erm... connections. All I want you five to do for the moment is consider it. This isn't to happen soon, it shall be several months yet, should you decide to take us up on our offer. Of course, if you choose to do so, you will always be welcome here, and we will consider you our allies. If not, you can help yourselves." She looks at Amber. "And I have seen how hard it is for you here, believe me."

Minstelae is slightly irritated by Lakura's smug manner, but she will just let it pass. "So, that's it? And you will leave us here to think about it and come back later, right?"

Lakura grins again, the smugness plastered all over her face. "Yep. That's the gist of it." She then turns around, gives a quick message to her packmates in her language and saunters away, the others following her.

Amber waits until after the Deinonychus are out of earshot. "Well, that was interesting," she smirks slightly.

"To say the least," Jabari snickers back at her.

About a week later...........

It is getting dark, the sun is setting, and Minstelae continues wandering. She is far from where she initially began, with her family, and most of her wounds have healed. She was lucky she didn't suffer worse, at least, on the outside. The sunset is beautiful, but Minstelae can still only feel sadness and worry. She has not been able to find anything to eat for the last week, save the few dead fish she has found here and there near the river she has been following. A few minutes later, she catches the scent of others, others of her species. It seems that she smells two or three of her kind nearby. And she also smells the scent of food, and that scent is unmistakable to her. She is afraid, but she has no other choice but to follow them. She might as well risk it, because if she doesn't she will soon starve to death anyway. She can just barely walk, as it is. Minstelae continues walking, as fast as she can, towards that scent, although at the moment, all she can muster is a slow walk, almost a limp, and she can't even walk straight, as it is.

Minstelae is very close now, the scent is very strong. She follows until she gets there, stumbling. She hides in some bushes, panting for air and almost blacking out. There are two others, a male and a female, eating from the carcass of some sauropod that had been killed recently, probably earlier in the day. Minstelae was so hungry, she could not take it. She had to do something; she could not wait any longer. She sees the other two Utahraptors looking in her direction, obviously having caught her scent. She figures she might as well come out from hiding, they had found her already anyway. She stands up, musters a small, quiet eep, and walks towards them, and then everything goes black....

When she wakes up, it is daytime again, probably somewhere during mid-afternoon. Then the memories slowly come back to her, being alone, following the scent of two Utahraptors and their prey, them finding her, but what had happened after that? She opens her eyes and sniffs the air, trying to decipher where she is now. There are others around her, lots of them, she can see and smell them, and she is in a cave somewhere, though she hasn't the slightest idea of where. No matter. She had to figure out how she had gotten here and who these strangers were.

As if to answer her question, two raptors, the same two who had found her the previous day, approach her and drop some meat on the ground for her. Suddenly remembering just how ravenous she is, she eats all of it. The female of the pair looks back up at the male, and he leaves, coming back soon with more food. Minstelae eats her fill and stands up weakly, trying to walk about, and she finds that she can walk all right once more, that she had just been exhausted and starving. Now that she had her rest, she would be fine. Or so she hoped. She still didn't know who she was with, nor did she know what they were like. She looks back up at the two. "Thanks, but who are you? And why…… am I here?" she asks curiously.

"You are here…… because we brought you here. You seemed in a bad way," the female raptor responds. "By the way, I am Hedda," she smiles. "And this is Arame," she says, looking over at her mate. "And you are?" she asks the little chick.

Minstelae stammers. "Minstelae. I-I'm Minstelae," she tells them, looking at the ground.

Hedda nods and has an expression of deep thought cross her face. "Where you from?" she asks simply.

Minstelae isn't sure how to respond. "F-From far away, over in the Ananda territory. My family was killed, and so I was looking for……." she lets her words trail off.

Arame nods. "Yes. We know. Looking for food and shelter. Well, you have it now, and hope that you will stay with us."

Minstelae figures she might as well. They seem nice enough to her, and she doesn't sense a threat, as of yet. "W-Will this pack accept me?" she asks simply, still kind of afraid that someone might harm her.

Arame chuckles. "Are you kidding, the Daya Clan? No, no one will hurt you here and yes, they will accept you."

Minstelae looks up at them, looks at the others. She thinks that she will stay with this group, and take Arame's word for it. Perhaps she could stay with them and everything would be all right. "Thank you," she says shyly. "I think I will stay and are you new parents?" she asks, tilting her head to one side curiously.

"If you so wish," Hedda smiles. "Actually, we had that in mind when we first saw you," she says thoughtfully.

Arame nods. "That we did. That we did."

Minstelae thinks for a while, then stands up. "Arame, Hedda? My sister wasn't dead when I left. Can we look for her and bring her back, if she is okay?" she asks hopefully. She misses her sister terribly already, and she would give almost anything to have her back, let alone the rest of her family.

Arame thinks about it, then looks over to Hedda, who nods at him. "Yes," he says. "We will go look for her, if you show us where it was that you last saw her." Minstelae agrees, and they head off.

They walk, the three of them, for quite some time, and finally, they get there, to the same den that Minstelae remembers being in. Her family, her mother, this was going to be painful. Still, she has to be strong, to see if her sister is okay. She walks inside the cave and still her mother lies there, as if in a peaceful slumber. Too peaceful. She looks around for her sister, and finally walks back out again, looking up at her new parents longingly.

"She's gone," she says simply. Now she knows for sure that she never wants to return here again. Something had to have happened to her sister, and she didn't want to know what.

Minstelae eats her fill, then waits until the others are done eating, for the most part. She looks over at Amber, who is also done eating.

"So... where were you all this time?" Amber asks her.

"You don't wanna know," Minstelae responds, a slight edge in her voice, not meant towards Amber, but meant towards what she had experienced. She then sighs, lies down, and proceeds to tell Amber the whole story, about how she had been found, how she had been taken in, how the pack she was with had become obnoxious and had killed her adopted parents and destroyed their eggs. And she told them about the escape, as well.

Amber sighs and shakes her head. "And you think you know someone... never thought I would say this, but I would much prefer to be alone than to be with a group like that. I knew to avoid that area, because a lone raptor had warned me about it, but I never knew that you were there. I just avoided that area altogether," she says, looking at the ground. "But, if I knew you were there..." she says, lying down in front of Minstelae.

Minstelae looks at her sister. "It's not your fault for not knowing, so don't worry about it. We are with each other now, as it should be. No more Daya," she smirks. "Besides, you haven't told me your story yet, about how you survived?" Minstelae asks, nuzzling her sister.

"Well, it's kind of a long story, but not as involved as yours," she grins.

Minstelae nods slightly and looks back at her, waiting for her to explain.

"You remember that 'dactyl that helped us find kills, before things got bad?" she asks. Minstelae nods. "Well, you won't believe this, but he would come by every so often and drop meat at me, until I healed. I still am not sure how I managed to live, I was hurt so badly,""" she says, tilting her head so that Minstelae can see a large scar running from her chin to the left side of the base of her neck. "But at least I had no belly wounds like you did. A neck wound can either be fatal or able to heal. Evidently this one wasn't fatal, so I managed somehow. When I finally came to, you had left, so I left, assuming the worst. I looked for you, but you were gone..." she says sadly.

"I did come back looking for you about a week later, as soon as I got some food and energy into my system, if that makes you feel any better," Minstelae says, nuzzling her sister again.

"I know. I figured you probably did, but that wasn't until after I came out here, wanting to leave the area, and it just so happened that we didn't cross paths up until now," Amber says, nuzzling back.

Jabari walks up to the two, finished eating as well. "I hate to interrupt you two, but what were your thoughts about those Deinonychus who spoke to us?" he asks with a slight grin on his face.

Minstelae grins up at Jabari. "I think Amber said it quite well... interesting," she says with a slight smirk. "But they do have a point. Living with the Daya, even though I knew it was bad, I never realized just how much they had taken over the area. So... they do have a point. It's rather risky, though, and I would like to have more raptors in the pack before I make any decision that has anything to do with the Daya."

Amber looks at Minstelae oddly. "So... we are a pack then?" she asks.

"Well, what else are we?" her sister grins back, glad to be among others that she feels she can consider to be a pack anyway.

Amber tilts her head to one side. "I dunno... just didn't know that it was official," she says with a slight grin.

Minstelae laughs. "Well, why not? I see no reason why not, unless anyone has any objections here" she says, although she knows the truth, that no one, in fact, does.

Jabari shakes his head. "No. Of course not, no objection here." His parents kind of grin, indicating that they feel the same way, but that they also knew Minstelae was kind of joking with them.

"If I knew any better, I would say that those Deinonychus regarded you as the Alpha," Amber laughs.

Minstelae smirks. "Yeah, strange huh?"

Khalil speaks. "Hardly strange. If you were to ask me, I would say you'd be a great Alpha. It was you who got us out of the Daya Clan alive, and it was you who took charge in speaking with those Deinonychus," he tells her.

Minstelae is surprised by this strange compliment. She had never really thought of herself as a leader, although she had never really been a follower either. She just thought it was strange that after all of these years of being considered the lowest, that someone would actually be willing to consider her among the highest. "Okay, if you insist, but its not official unless I get agreement from all of you," she says, still feeling that she isn't necessarily the Alpha type.

Amber laughs. "You always did have traits you didn't think you had," she says, nudging her sister. "And yes, I agree."

"Then it is set. Minstelae is the Alpha. While the two of you were speaking, we were talking about you, Minstelae, and we all agreed on this. So, there you are. You're Alpha now. And Amber is Beta."

Minstelae grins and laughs, and Amber smiles, obviously happy about the Beta decision, though she keeps quiet, as is her custom.

"Am not. Not me," Minstelae laughs and shakes her head.

Amber smirks. "You are," and before Minstelae gets a chance to counter that argument, she gets play-whacked hard in her neck with her sister's snout.

Minstelae mock-sighs. "Well, okay, if you insist, at least for the moment."

"We insist," Filia says. "There, now we're done with that, let's see, about those Deinonychus? What do you want to do about them? You are the Alpha now."

"Well, okay, maybe I am, but that doesn't mean that I know all the answers. I have to admit, I was irritated by them at first, but they did have a point, and actually, towards the end, I found them to be quite amusing. I just wasn't showing it," she chuckles at herself.

"Amusing?" Jabari asks. "How do you consider them amusing?"

Minstelae laughs lightly. "Well come on, its not every day that some strange group of Deinonychus walks up to you like they own the place and try to form alliances with you. Not to mention Lakura. She's just hilarious," she says, laughing harder now.

Amber smiles. "Okay, so you have a point. But... are we going to ally with them, or not?" she asks. Amber kind of liked the idea. Her sister was right. Even if she didn't particularly like Deinonychus, she did think that this could be interesting, that is, if the Deinonychus had indeed been truthful about the alliance. She pushed that thought out of her mind and let herself think of better things, such as it being a nice thing to have them as allies and friends rather than competition or annoyances. It would be a lot better that way.

Minstelae looks at her, and the others, and hopes the others aren't going to hate her for this. "Yes, we are," she says, in a more serious tone of voice, to let the others know that she isn't joking.

Filia nods. "It's your decision, and we respect that." No one says anything more, for the moment.

Minstelae decides to go back to the den to take another nap, as she had been interrupted from the previous one. The others had decided to go along with Amber in exploring the area, since they were new to the general location, and Amber wanted to show them where everything was.

She walks slowly back. It had been an interesting past couple of days. Fortunately it had been a good sort of interesting. And Minstelae had a hunch that despite her smugness, Lakura had meant what she had said. She couldn't explain it really, just a feeling she had. And Minstelae trusted her hunches.

She gets to their den and enters it, makes a sleeping-nest for herself and begins to lie down when she hears a slight rustle in some of the plant life outside the den. 'Probably just the wind,' she thinks. She lies down again, but the rustling becomes more intent. 'Hmm, there is something out there.' She gets back up and goes to the den entrance and sniffs the air. At first, she doesn't catch anyone's scent. She sniffs again, and it is there. Very faint, but there. She just hadn't smelled it before, since the wind was blowing the wrong way. "Who's there?" she asks, and then it is totally silent once more.

She pauses. "Who's there?" she asks again, this time a little more demanding. It is still silent. She sniffs the air again. This time she catches a little bit more of the scent. She isn't sure, but thinks that it is a Deinonychus. 'Hmm, probably just someone sent by Lakura...eeps, they're impatient!' she thinks to herself. She walks towards the source of the scent. 'They said in a few months but they're already coming for answers. Deinonychus!' She snorts in slight irritation at the concept.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the rustling in the bushes again. "Okay, whoever you are, come out! It's not funny anymore," she says, with a slight growl of irritation in her voice. "Didn't know we needed to make the decision today..." she trails off as the source of the scent makes a small eeping sound and comes out from hiding.

'It's a chick! How? Is it from Lakura's clan? Where are the others? Why is this... chick...?' Her mind is racing even more than it was before. Still, there is the possibility that the chick is alone. She sniff-searches the air again, and detects no one else nearby. 'Okay, maybe this chick has nothing to do with Lakura? I would hope that her clan would have the sense enough not to leave one of their own alone...'

Still, she has no intention of harming the chick. And it does seem like the chick is alone. And Minstelae remembers what it is like to be a chick, alone. She crouches low to the ground, at eye-level with the chick, hoping to seem less threatening. "Come here," she says in a more calm tone of voice. "It's okay, just come... here," she says. The chick takes a few steps closer, and Minstelae finds herself staring into the huge blue eyes of the chick. She looks at the chick for a moment, and the chick is completely still. She is a pretty chick, even if she is a Deinonychus, she thinks, smiling to herself, and to the chick. The chick is fairly small, of course. To a Utahraptor, any Deinonychus is small. She appears to be about four or five months. Old enough to talk, Minstelae thinks to herself. Yet, she hasn't said anything yet, not even in her language, she ponders. The chick is a deep shade of blue-green with purplish markings spreading down along her spine and tapering into stripes on the sides. She has a small feather-crest, which is a silvery blue in color.

"Come on. Come here," she says again, and then suddenly the chick is gone, hiding from view again. The chick peeks out from behind her new hiding-spot, a nearby rock. Minstelae can tell that even though the chick is still shy of her, she is only hiding in play this time, as opposed to being terrified of her. Minstelae grins at the chick. "You little..." she shakes her head in amusement.

The chick runs from her hiding-spot and finds another. Minstelae takes a few steps toward the chick, who in turn, runs from her again. "Forget it," she says, grinning. "I'm not chasing you around all over the place. If you want to come here, just do so." She then turns around and goes back into her den, lies down and rests her head on her forearms. She closes her eyes, feigning sleep.

A few moments go by, and the chick comes back to Minstelae cautiously. Minstelae opens one eye. The chick appears to be shy once again, probably intimidated by getting so close to a Utah. ~Who... are... you?~ the chick asks in her own tongue.

'Ah finally, she says something,' Minstelae thinks. 'Now, if only I could figure out what she is saying...' She is sort of miffed that she doesn't understand Deinonychus tongue at the moment. But if she is going to have her pack ally with Lakura and her Shrenaea Clan, then it would probably help to at least know a little bit of Deinonychus.

Minstelae knows that the chick probably doesn't know what she is saying, but she speaks to her anyway, appreciating the chick's efforts in speaking to her. "Hello, I am Minstelae," she says, emphasizing the name "Minstelae" and bringing her head down to one of her forearms, a raptorian gesture indicating that one is referring to themselves.

The little chick growls slightly, more of a high-pitched chirping call than a growl, although there is a slight growl mixed in with it. She then tilts her head and brings the tip of her snout down to one of her own forearms. ~Celeea,~ she says, bringing her head back up and tilting it to one side curiously, as if in deep thought. She is still and quiet for a moment. "Means... water..." she says in Utah tongue. This surprises Minstelae. She can speak Utah language!

"You understand me?" Minstelae asks Celeea.

The chick tilts her head again, thinking. "Little... a little... Utah," she says, then eyes Minstelae questioningly, curious as to whether she had said that right.

Minstelae smiles. "It's ok, you understand me more than I do you, and you have a pretty name," she says, then motions the chick to come over to her.

The chick comes over and stands in front of her and dips her head in thanks for the compliment on her name. "Celeea... sleep?" she asks. Minstelae nods to her. Evidently the chick wants to sleep, and that is fine with her. She will figure out all of this later. Maybe they will have to make an early trip to find some of the Shrenaea Clan. Perhaps they will know the chick. For now though, Minstelae is perfectly okay with the chick sleeping in her den with her, as she had initially come there to rest anyway. Minstelae rests her head on her forearms, and Celeea comes over to her and lies down next to her, closing her eyes and leaning slightly in her direction.

Minstelae is surprised that the chick isn't terrified of her. She was shy, of course, but this lean indicated that there was at least a little bit of trust there. And Celeea knew a few Utah words, at least. Perhaps she had been exposed to Utahraptors in the past. Minstelae sighs softly and allows the chick to lean into her. She closes her own eyes and begins to doze off, as well.

About an hour goes by, and Minstelae is awakened by the sound of Celeea, chirping and trilling softly at her, yet sounding agitated. She yawns and opens one eye. "What's the matter?" Minstelae asks.

"Someone... come?" she asks softly, her head held low and her feather-crest flattened against her head. "More... your... kind?" She is clearly worried about there being others out there. Minstelae searches the air for scent. The wind has calmed down a bit now, and the scents are clear. It's just her sister and the rest of the pack coming back from their little walk.

Minstelae, having identified the arriving Utahs, smiles. "It's just my pack," she says.

The chick still looks scared, and hides behind Minstelae as the scent gets stronger. She says a few things in her own tongue but then realizes that Minstelae doesn't understand her. "Pack... like me?" she says in Utah language, obviously worried about being chased away or hurt.

Minstelae gets up and faces the chick, bending down to her eye-level and nudging her softly. "They won't hurt you. I'm the Alpha. If they did, they'd have to answer to me. Besides, my pack isn't like that," she says softly. She steps outside of the den and takes a few steps towards the others, but Celeea stays inside the den, still scared and worried about the others.

Minstelae watches as Jabari and Amber walk up to her, chattering about something and making some joke about Deinonychus and Troodons, and Filia and Khalil aren't far behind. Minstelae clears her throat loudly, to get their attention. "We seem to have a newcomer," she says to them, smiling slightly.

Amber looks startled. "A newcomer?" she asks. She sniffs the air and catches Celeea's scent. "Oh no, don't tell me they're back already," she says, referring to the Deinonychus who had visited earlier in the day. "Geez, they're impatient!"

Minstelae laughs. "Believe me, it's what I thought at first. But this one, I'm not sure if she has anything to do with Lakura or the Shrenaea Clan. Although I intend on finding them and asking them if they know her, soon."

Amber tilts her head to one side. "Why is she in our den?" she asks. She could perhaps understand the whole alliance thing but why was there a Deinonychus rummaging around in their den?

"Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough. Stay here for a moment." Minstelae then turns around and peers into the den at the still-terrified chick. "Hey, don't worry, no one will harm you," she says to Celeea. "They just want to know who you are, is all. Please, come out?" she asks. Celeea decides she should perhaps trust Minstelae. She hadn't done anything bad so far, and she had seemed to have a general concern for Celeea.

Minstelae turns around and walks completely out of the den, and faces the others, hoping that the little chick will follow her. "She should be coming... I hope she'll come out. Be nice to her, she's a little worried," Minstelae says, realizing that what she was saying was quite an understatement.

Minstelae hears a slight chirp behind her, and Amber takes a step sideways, to get a better look at the chick. "Oh... she's pretty... you didn't tell me she was a chick," she says, smiling. Amber continues looking at the chick. "You wanna come here?" she asks the chick, in her most calm tone of voice.

Minstelae turns her head around to see what Celeea's reaction will be. The chick darts over behind Minstelae and hides behind her, occasionally peering around her at the others. "Celeea, it's okay," she says, in an attempt to calm the chick.

Amber grins. She had always kind of liked chicks, even if she had not always liked Deinonychus. "No one's gonna hurt you," she says soothingly. She then looks back up at Minstelae. "Does she understand us?" she asks.

Minstelae nods. "A little bit, though very little," she replies, and Amber nods in understanding.

Celeea takes an awkward step out from behind Minstelae, but still doesn't leave her side. "H-Hello," she says softly. "I... Celeea," she says in her broken Utahraptor language.

Amber smiles and introduces herself. "I'm Amber," she says, and then looks at the others, naming them in the order in which they are standing. "This is Jabari, and Filia, and Khalil, all packmates."

Celeea looks up at the others and bobs her head in an awkward greeting, but doesn't say anything else.

Minstelae explains the ordeal. "I was coming back to the den, as I had planned, to take a short nap. And somehow, I managed to find this little rascal outside the den hiding. And evidently she has sort of taken to me," she smiles.

Amber laughs a little. "I see. Well, she picked the right pack, at least," she says, referring to the experiences that her sister had recently had with the Daya Clan.

Minstelae nods, then sighs a little, thinking to herself. "I'm not sure where she came from, and I'm wondering if Lakura might know where she belongs, or who her parents are." Minstelae hears Celeea whine a little bit, and looks down at her, to see what is wrong.

"Parents... gone... no come back," she says. Minstelae knows what this means, as does Amber.
Amber nods at Minstelae and smiles sympathetically at Celeea. "I know the feeling," she tells Celeea. She looks back up at Minstelae. "But what shall we do with her, take her to Lakura and see if anyone there will take care of her? They are her own kind, after all," she says, her logical mind taking over.

Celeea speaks again, quietly. It is hard to hear her, but she gets the message across. "No... Celeea... Minstelae... stay," she says. "Minsty... mother?" she asks Minstelae, looking up at her.

Minstelae nods to the chick, and smiles, indicating her agreement. Perhaps if the same hadn't happened to her as a chick, Minstelae would not have been quite so understanding. However, it had, and Minstelae could still remember what it was like, to be uncertain, unknowing, facing a dangerous world alone, and its inhabitants, who happen to seem large and threatening. "No, I think, for now at least, what she wants is pretty clear, and I'm not going to deny her that," she says, understanding the chick's sentiments exactly.

Amber understands as well, and feels slightly mad at herself for not realizing this as quickly as her sister had. She looks at the chick. "But of course. You, Celeea, shall stay with us, then."

Celeea grins at Minstelae, then her expression becomes more serious. "Food?" she asks. "Have... food?"

Minstelae almost growls at herself. She hadn't even thought of food, but the chick was probably starving. They might as well go take her back to the kill site. Instead, she smiles at the young one once more. "Yes, don't worry, I will take you." She looks back up at the others. "Anyone care to go back with me? Amber?" she asks, not particularly wanting to go alone, as she was still probably unaware of the new territory's inhabitants.

Amber nods. "Sure... why not?" she asks. The others decide to stay back, as it isn't really necessary for the whole pack to go.