Sturm's Territorium - Die etwas andere Dinosaurierseite

Minstelae walks along with Amber and Celeea to the same place they had been earlier, where the food is. For the most part, everyone is quiet, then Amber speaks up. "You don't have to be afraid of us, you know," she says, smiling at Celeea.

Celeea looks up at her and smiles somewhat. "I... know..." she says, letting her words trail off, due to her not being able to speak Utahraptor language properly.

Amber continues. "It's understandable. You come up to a group of raptors way bigger than yourself and you're afraid of us, it's natural. But you don't have to worry about any of us."

Celeea nods and thinks for a bit. "Yeah..." She struggles, trying to think of the right words to say. "I... was also... taught..." she says, hoping Amber will get the general gist of what she was saying, since she can't finish the sentence herself.

"Taught?" Amber asks. "You mean by your previous parents? You were taught to be afraid of us?"

Celeea nods.

Minstelae speaks. "Yeah, a lot of your kind are taught to be afraid of us," she says." And that's reasonable. Some of our kind are worthy to be feared," she says, remembering the Daya. "But then, some of us aren't so bad."

Celeea nods again. "I... know... now," she says, still struggling with words somewhat, but glad at least, that she can speak to them, even if she can't fully express herself yet. She'll have to pick up this language fast, if she is going to be around these Utahs for long, which she hopes to be.

The little chick struggles some more with words, but then sniffs the air. They are close to the kill now, and she can smell someone out there, a Utahraptor. "Someone... there," she says, her steps falling slower now so that she is behind the others, and is able to hide somewhat from the stranger, should the stranger approach them.

Minstelae nods. "Yes, I noticed that. Amber, stay back here with Celeea, I'm going to find out what's going on. It seems there is a raptor at our kill. If I need help, I will call you," she says, walking fast towards the kill site.

Amber nods and stays behind with Celeea, who seems really scared at the moment, still hiding behind Amber.

Minstelae walks up near the kill, although she keeps herself hidden. She looks through the underbrush at the kill. Yes, there is a raptor there, a male Utah, as she had smelled earlier. She isn't downwind, as there isn't any wind. He's gonna find me out sooner or later, she thinks to herself, just as the raptor turns his head to look in her direction. "Who's out there?" he asks her, although it sounds more as if he is merely curious, as opposed to sounding threatening.

Minstelae steps out from where she was. "I'm here, we are the ones who killed this... I'm Minstelae, Alpha of my pack," she introduces herself, looking over at the kill site. "Who are you?" she asks, kind of irritated that he had eaten from their kill without asking, but certainly not angry to the degree of attacking him.

"Name's Crike," he says, bobbing his head in greeting. Minstelae takes one step closer and looks at the male, who is sort of a dark greenish blue in color, with a black feather-crest tipped with gold and red. He looks back at her with bright yellow eyes, obviously looking her over, too. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be a threat, or to steal from you. Just that I was very, very hungry... and it's hard to find stuff out here sometimes..." he trails off.

Minstelae bobs her head back at him, both in greeting and in indication that she accepts his apology. "Don't worry about it, I understand. You can stay if you want, I have already eaten, I was just bringing someone here to eat, who hasn't had a chance to eat yet." Minstelae sure hopes he likes Deinonychus but then, who could resist Celeea? Minstelae had found her irresistible herself, from the very beginning, despite species differences.

"Okay," he says. "You sure I shouldn't just leave?" he asks her, still evidently feeling bad about having invaded the kill site.

Minstelae chuckles. "Nah, really, it's okay. Stay. By the way, are you a loner?" she asks him.

Crike nods. "I guess one would say that I am currently, that is why I was hungry. Why?"

"I was just wondering. I have recently started a new life out here, with a new pack, and I don't think any of them would mind it too terribly to have another packmate," she says, smiling at him a little.

Crike smiles back. "So does this mean... that I am invited to join up with you?" he asks her.

Minstelae nods. "Of course. Why not?" She remembers the others and calls out to them, a low call that lets Amber and Celeea know that everything is okay.

Crike smiles again. "Okay. Fine then, I agree, why not?" he asks, and eats a little more, but makes room beside the kill for anyone else who was coming that might want to eat.

Minstelae smirks a little, and can hear the other two approaching. "Hope you like Deinonychus," she says.

Before he can respond, Amber walks over to the kill site and eyes Crike curiously. "Who are you?" she asks him.

"I'm Crike," he says, then looks at Minstelae, then back at Amber. "But I must say that you are huge for a Deinonychus," he laughs.

Amber smirks, then eyes him in mock-irritation. "I'm not the Deinonychus. She was right behind me but... I think she's hiding from you," she smiles, then calls to Celeea once more, indicating it is okay. After all, the reason they had come here in the first place was so that the young one could eat.

Celeea comes out from hiding slowly, eyeing the new male Utahraptor with big, scared eyes.

"A chick? Now I get it, she is somewhat irresistible, although a little too scared of me," he says, watching her curiously and smiling at her. "Hey... I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?" he asks the chick.

"C-Celeea," she stammers, still watching him and kind of hiding behind Amber.

Crike smiles at her. "Nice name. I'm Crike," he says, and moves away from the kill, so that the little chick can eat without feeling so threatened.

Minstelae nudges the chick. "Hey, you need to eat," she says, going to the kill site herself, and removing some meat for the hungry Deinonychus chick to eat. Celeea follows her, still eyeing Crike on her way over there, but then starts eating. She is starving. She needed something, as she hadn't had a real meal in quite a while. Minstelae gets more meat for the chick, when she has finished what was originally given to her. "He's a new packmate, by the way. You don't need to fear him, either." Celeea looks up at Minstelae with wide eyes and nods.

'Must be hard for her, having to learn not to be afraid,' Minstelae thinks. She wondered what all had happened to the chick, and her parents, but she wouldn't know anything until the chick learned to trust them all, although she did seem to trust both Minstelae and her sister now. And probably not until she learned to speak the Utahraptor language a little better, or until Minstelae learned some Deinonychus. But that would happen, sooner or later. Celeea just needed some time, was all. Things would be better for her soon enough.

Minstelae gets done with what she is doing, at least for the moment, and walks up to Amber and Crike. "Don't worry, she'll get used to you," she smiles at Crike. "I just met her earlier today," she says.

"Hmm, so she's not technically yours, then? I couldn't tell," he grins.

"Well no, not in that sense, but she does consider me her mother now, and I certainly hold no objections," she laughs.

"And how did the two of you come across? Kind of odd that a Utah would become the parent of a deiny," he says, still smiling, indicating he didn't mean it in any negative way.

"She found me. I was just taking a nap and there she was, playing with me," Minstelae grins. "We gave her the option of going to a deiny pack we had spoken with earlier, but she chose us," she says. "So with us is where she will stay, I guess."

Crike nods. "Well, why not?" he asks, grinning.

"Exactly, why not?" Minstelae grins back.

Crike laughs. "You think if I go over there she'll still be scared of me? I'm still hungry," he says, his feather-crest raising and lowering slightly in amusement.

Minstelae chuckles. "Go ahead and try it, but I won't guarantee anything," she smirks.

He walks over near the kill, bobbing his head at Celeea and smiling slightly. Celeea backs away slightly, but doesn't run off or hide, as Minstelae had suspected she would. She looks at him awkwardly. "H-Hello?" she says to him.

"Hi," Crike says softly, then cuts some meat from the kill and lies down with it, in a less-threatening position. "You know, I'm not going to hurt you."

Celeea smiles a little bit, but remains where she is, still nervous.

Crike offers some of the meat to her. "You want some?" he asks, not wanting her to be too afraid to finish eating. She obviously needed food, as she was pretty thin.

"Y-Yes," she stammers, looking at the meat that is being offered to her but still uncertain and afraid. She remains standing there, however, not sure whether she should walk up to him or not.

"Well, come have some then. No need to think that just because I am here, you can't eat," he smiles.

"Okay," she says quietly as she cautiously takes a few steps towards Crike and the offered meat. Crike watches her, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible, his mouth closed and head lowered almost to the ground. Celeea takes a few more steps towards him, and quickly grabs some of the meat and backs away, although not as far as she had initially been from him. He smiles at her.

She eats what she had grabbed, as it wasn't much, and he offers her more. This time she didn't back away as much or as quickly, and took more meat than she had before. Crike was glad to see that he was actually getting somewhere. Crike watches her and eats some of the meat he has dragged out of the carcass, still being hungry himself.

Celeea finishes what was offered to her and slowly walks up to him sort of timidly, but not as fearful as she had seemed before. Before Crike realizes it, he feels a slight tug on the meat he is eating, and looks up to see that Celeea is on the other end of it, pulling and play-growling.

Crike gives a slight playful tug himself, but isn't too forceful, due to Celeea's small size. Celeea continues pulling and growling, and Crike play-growls slightly himself, then lets go. Although his intentions were to let her have the meat, and not to cause Celeea to lose her balance, Celeea falls backwards and lands on her side, the meat still in her mouth, and Celeea still play-growling.

Crike laughs a little. "You okay?" he asks her, even though he is pretty sure that she is.

Celeea stands back up, drops the meat and puts a foot on it, as if she is protecting it. "Yes... my meat," she says, with a slight trill-laugh in her voice.

"Okay, of course, you win. You're the big, scary one here, I give already," he teases her.

"I am!" Celeea says, standing tall and growling slightly, trying to appear fierce, but her laughter giving herself away.

Crike smiles. "You are. I should be running from you," he chuckles.

Celeea takes a step towards him and play-growls again. "You... should... be," she says kind of slowly, since she is still trying to comprehend the Utahraptor language. She then takes a step forward and nips at his ankles, not actually nipping him, but nipping at him.

Crike eeps loudly and runs from her, since she so evidently wanted a chase, and Celeea follows, growling at him the whole time. He looks behind him, at her, and sees that she is catching up to him, as he wasn't going his full speed, for her benefit. "No! She'll get me! No!" he laugh-growls as he dodges her.

Celeea continues chasing him, until he is backed up against the kill.

Crike lets his eyes get really big in mock-fear. "No... She'll... AAAaaaghhhh!!!" he yells, still pretending to be terrified of her.

Celeea play-growls really loudly at him, her little feather-crest rising in a mock-threat-pose. She pounces him, and he makes himself fall over.

Celeea laughs, but quits growling and chasing. "Okay... I... win?" she asks, grinning at Crike.

"Yeah, yeah, you win," he says, laughing. He hadn't realized how much he liked chicks, but here, he was having the time of his life with Celeea.

Minstelae sees the whole thing and walks up to the two, laughing. "Seems she has warmed up to you," she says to Crike. "That's a good sign," she says. "But are you two ever going to actually eat, or are we going to be standing here, waiting on you two forever?" she teases.

Crike nods at her. "Okay, okay, we'll eat already," he says, teasing her as well. He then walks over to the carcass, Celeea following him, and the two eat until they are filled, then walk over to Minstelae and Amber. "Okay, we're done now," Crike smirks, as Celeea walks over to Minstelae and Amber, and nuzzles them.

"Good, it's about time," Amber says, laughing at the whole incident. "Come on, it's this way," she says, leading them towards the den and the rest of the pack, Minstelae and the others following her.

The four of them head back, and Minstelae can smell not only the other pack members, but the scents of one other, a Deinonychus. As she gets closer, she can tell it isn't Lakura. She hoped it was someone from the Shrenaea clan, though. Probably was, probably wasn't anything to worry about. Still, she had a bad feeling about this.

The others smell it, too. Celeea really seems to notice, and walks behind the others, evidently in fear. Minstelae looks at her. Celeea actually seems terrified, making small whimpering sounds in the back of her throat. Minstelae has a bad feeling that Celeea knows who this stranger is; otherwise, she wouldn't seem so fearful of someone of her own kind. Besides, he does smell almost as if he could be related to her, if she wasn't mistaken. Minstelae stops, mid-stride, and nuzzles the chick. "Who is that?" she asks, concerned for Celeea. "Do you know that stranger?"

Celeea nods. "My... brother," she says, in a terrified whisper.

Minstelae nods back at Celeea. If it was her brother, why did she seem so scared of him? That didn't seem right. Not right at all. Minstelae can't imagine being afraid of her own sibling, as she and Amber had always been pretty close, at least, during the times in which they had been together. This perplexed her. Why was Celeea so worried? "Why... are you afraid of him?" she asks, simply.

"Tell you... later... don't... wanna see him," she whimpers, with a crying sound in her voice.

Minstelae is still perplexed, but understands that there must be some logical reason as to why the chick is afraid of her own brother. She looks to Amber. "Stay back, with her, keep her hidden, if possible, until I can figure out what is going on," she tells her sister. "I have a feeling this isn't going to be good," she says to Amber, who nods, as Minstelae continues walking. Crike continues on, following Minstelae.

When they get there, Khalil, Filia and Jabari are standing outside of the den, a male Deinonychus standing there, in front of them. None of Minstelae's packmates seem too happy about it, either. Khalil has a slight growl emanating from the depths of his throat.

The Deinonychus, apparently ignoring the growl, turns to Minstelae as she approaches. "The Alpha female, huh? And might I ask where my sister is?" he says, in a menacing tone of voice. Minstelae is surprised that he is speaking the Utahraptor language, and well.

"Your sister?" Minstelae asks, knowing that he is referring to Celeea but not letting on that she knows anything just yet.

"You know who I am talking about. Celeea. Give her to me, now!" he growls.

Even though Minstelae doesn't know the exact circumstances, she can remember how fearful Celeea had seemed about encountering her brother, and she doesn't like the demanding tone of voice with which he addresses her. "And might I ask, why?" she asks him, wondering how on earth a Deinonychus with no obvious packmates with him can act so bold towards a pack of Utahraptors.

"Because she's mine," he says, indignantly.

Minstelae glares at him. "Well, go look elsewhere, we don't have her," she says, realizing that he will probably realize that she is lying, but not being able to think of anything else to say at the moment.

The Deinonychus growls at her and bares his teeth. "Liar. I know you have her, give her to me, now!"

Just then, Minstelae hears someone behind her, growling. Judging by scent and voice, she can tell that it is Amber. She just hopes that Celeea is in a safe spot. Minstelae glances over at Amber, and notices that Celeea isn't with her, and realizes that Amber must have had her hide somewhere for the moment.

Minstelae winces as she hears one of the loudest screeches she has ever heard, coming from her sister. "You!" she says to the Deinonychus. "Leave now, or the pack attacks!" she says. Minstelae knows this must be bad, from the way that Amber was acting. One thing that Minstelae was remembering at the moment, was that her sister was not quick to get angry, but that when she did, she had good reason to be, very good reason.

Minstelae walks closer to the Deinonychus male, growling under her breath. "That's right. Leave or be attacked, fair warning," she says to him, slashing her claws in the air, indicating that she means business.

"I will not leave until you give her to me!" he says, hissing under his breath.
"Okay, then. Have it your way," Minstelae says, and nods at the rest of her pack, and they all move in towards him, growling and snarling as one.

The Deinonychus male backs away, shrieks loudly at the Utahraptor pack, then turns tail and retreats, Crike giving chase. Minstelae looks at the others and tells them to stay back until further notice, and they nod in agreement. Within a few seconds, it is all over, and Crike returns. Minstelae can tell that he was probably just chasing the Deinonychus male off, as there was no Deinonychus blood on him, no wounds, no evidence of actually attacking him. "Thanks," she tells him simply, and he sort of nods at her, but with a perplexed expression on his face that indicates that he is just as clueless as to these happenings as she is.

"Where's Celeea?" Minstelae asks Amber, not wanting her to be in the general area of the Deinonychus any longer.

Amber nods, to indicate the general direction of the chick's whereabouts. "Left her in hiding. I had to make sure you guys knew he was up to no good, Celeea told me enough to know, at least, for the moment," she says, still growling under her breath at the male Deinonychus who had intruded so pompously.

Minstelae heads in the direction that Celeea is, the pack following. When they get there, Celeea isn't there. All that remains is Celeea's scent, mixed in with the faint scent of her brother.

Minstelae growls to herself. Well, he can't be far, she thinks to herself. Minstelae can hear both Crike and her sister growling behind her, for the same reasons. "Let's go look for her," Minstelae sighs, and begins following his scent.

It isn't long before the pack finds them. They are at a nearby river, in a little cave behind a waterfall. Minstelae hadn't known that there was a river nearby, let alone, a waterfall. It is hard to find them at first; the scent is marred by the falling water, and if it hadn't been for the scent-trail, the pack wouldn't have found them at all. The pack closes in, blocking the entrance to the cave. That is, the pack, all except for Crike. Instead, Crike veers off towards the right, climbing the hill that the water falls off from, and eventually standing at the top, near the waterfall, looking down below but staying relatively hidden. Good move! Minstelae thinks. She never would have thought of that, herself.

Minstelae sticks her head through the waterfall, and looks into the cave. Celeea is in the depths of the cave, whimpering slightly, although Minstelae can't see as well, since the cave is dark inside. Minstelae thinks she can smell blood now, and she thinks it is Celeea's. Once she perceives this, she does nothing but utter a low, menacing growl at the male Deinonychus.

The Deinonychus male looks at Minstelae in total and complete hate for her. "Leave us alone, this is not your concern," he hisses at her.

Minstelae growls lowly. "I am her mother, that does concern me," she hisses back, trying to keep from going on impulse and lashing out at the Deinonychus male.

The Deinonychus laughs, a sort of menacing growl-laugh. "A Utah could never be the mother to a Deinonychus," he says, his sentence tapering into a snarl and walking towards Minstelae.

Who does he think he's kidding? He's willing to try to take down a pack of Utahraptors on his own? Minstelae questions the situation in her mind. Something did not seem right about this. Something had seemed rather off about this particular Deinonychus from the very beginning.

"And you are the reason many of my kind hate your kind," Minstelae says, standing her ground and keeping her eyes completely on the Deinonychus male. "What have you done to her, anyway?" she hiss-growls, bearing her teeth at him.

"What I do with my relatives is nothing of your concern," he retorts, snarling back at her and glancing back at the chick contempt. He then looks right back at Minstelae and pauses for a moment, then slashes his hand-claws at her, leaving a small but rather irritating wound on her right elbow. It hurts, but she will manage.

"Is that all you can do?" Minstelae says, backing away slightly, luring him out of the cave. Minstelae can hear Celeea whimper as she backs away, and she growls in reaction at the Deinonychus, then lets her growl turn into a long, menacing hiss. Minstelae still wonders why he doesn't seem bothered. Perhaps he wasn't aware that the rest of the pack was behind her, waiting.

The Deinonychus lashes at her again with his claws, but Minstelae is ready for it this time, and jumps back slightly as he does so, avoiding being wounded again. By now, she is completely out of the cave, the waterfall blocking her view of the Deinonychus male. His head soon pops out from through the waterfall, however, and he continues to stalk her, then notices that the rest of the pack is behind her, and that he is surrounded.

"Come on, you've got to do better than that," Minstelae smirk-growls, and backs away a little bit more. The Deinonychus lashes at her again, and misses once more. Minstelae is careful not to look up at the top of the waterfall, careful not to reveal Crike's location.

Minstelae backs up a few more feet and grins at the Deinonychus. "You give up? Going to release my daughter yet?" she says, growling and hissing at him. "What kind of a brother are you, anyway?" she taunts him some more.

He comes at Minstelae and pounces, his hand-claws grabbing her this time, a good grip too, and he lifts one of his killing-claws and slices at her belly. Minstelae is about to bite his neck when she feels the Deinonychus fall, and she is now face to face with Crike. "Enough of that, thought you could use a little help," he grins at her, standing on top of the Deinonychus, crushing him and pushing him underwater.

Minstelae watches as the Deinonychus's hand-claws reach out of the water, desperately grasping at Crike. She does not know whether Crike will allow the raptor to live, but doesn't stop to find out. She goes behind the waterfall, into the cave, and finds Celeea. "You're okay now. You hurt?" she asks the chick.

Celeea looks up at her and whimpers in the darkness. "Little. Bit me," she says, quietly, still with a whimper in her voice. Minstelae sniffs at her, and licks her wounds. It does not seem that they are fatal or crippling wounds, just that perhaps Celeea would be in some pain until she healed completely.

"Can you get up and walk?" she asks the chick.

Celeea stands up, very shakily and leans against her mother. "Think... so,"" she says, still very shaken.

Minstelae waits until she is completely able to stand on her own, and nuzzles her. "Let's go back, to the den," she tells the chick, and heads in that direction, Celeea following her.

The others join them soon after.

When they get back, Celeea goes into the den and lies down, whimpering softly, still obviously upset about all that had just happened. Minstelae follows, and joins her. There is more light in the den than there was back behind the waterfall, and Minstelae can see the chick's wounds now. Evidently she was right; she had been bitten, on the back, there were wounds that gave the telltale sign of a bite. There was also blood, Celeea was still bleeding a little bit, but the bleeding appeared to be slowing down, and the wounds didn't by any means look like fatal ones. After all, she had still been able to walk back to the den.

Minstelae lies down next to her and sighs softly, still concerned for the chick, and wondering what exactly was up with that male Deinonychus they had encountered. "You okay?" she asks Celeea again.

Celeea lets her whimpers quiet a bit. "Yeah..." she says, trailing off as if she was going to say something but wasn't sure exactly what it was she was going to say.

Minstelae sighs, nuzzles her, and says nothing for a moment, but then speaks. "You didn't get along, I take it?" she asks, because she isn't sure exactly how to word her question right.

"N-no..." Celeea says, then continues. "He was... mean to me," she says, sadness in her voice.

"But... why?" Minstelae tilts her head to one side. It didn't seem right to her at all, that a family member should treat Celeea in such a way.

"Don't know," Celeea says, looking at the ground before her. "Just... always... was... to me, not to others," she said, whimpering slightly again.

Minstelae nods. If anything, this was becoming harder and harder to understand. Why would he be mean to her and not the other pack members? she questions in her mind. That made absolutely no sense to her. Unless there was some odd sort of connection Celeea had with someone the Deinonychus male hated. Still, that's wrong, to mistreat her like that, she thinks. Wrong for someone to treat her in such a way, when she probably had absolutely nothing to do with it. "What is his name?" Minstelae asks the chick.

"Name? Kal'ai," she says, shivering a little.

Minstelae nuzzles the chick again. "Well, you don't have to worry about him now," she tells Celeea. "I highly doubt that he will show his face around here anymore," she says hopefully.

"I-I... hope not," Celeea tells her.

Minstelae lies her head on the ground. Another thing that bothered her was that he knew the Utahraptor language so well. Why was this? How had he been involved with Utahraptors enough to know how to speak the language so well? Not to mention, Celeea had probably picked up what little Utah she knew from him. This was, for sure, getting more and more confusing.

Minstelae looks to the chick as she begins to whimper again, this time, kind of uncontrollably, her whole body shaking. "Hey, you're okay now," Minstelae says, adjusting her body so that she can lie her head down next to Celeea. Celeea continues whimpering, but rests her head on Minstelae's neck until her sobbing subsides.

Minstelae wondered whether Kal'ai was still alive and if so, if he ever would show his face there ever again. It was all she could hope for the chick that he wouldn't. Yet she was curious as to all that had gone on. Perhaps she could get the whole story later on, when Celeea grew up a bit, or perhaps even when she learned to speak the Utahraptor language better. Minstelae just hoped that Kal'ai would never return.

She looks back to Celeea. "Why... did he bite you?" she asks, as the thought occurred to her. She at least wanted to know that much, if she could.

"Why? Dunno... I... left him," she says, looking up at Minstelae.

"He bit you because you left him?" Minstelae asks, surprised.

Celeea just nods but doesn't say anything.

"Well, Celeea, you certainly don't have to worry about being bitten here," Minstelae tells her.

"No... claws... either?" Celeea asks.

Minstelae is totally surprised. This probably meant that... that Kal'ai had clawed her at some point in time, if not many. She was surprised the chick was still alive. She guessed that he never really hurt her enough to kill her but that, perhaps he did hurt her, and Celeea should not be hurt by her own packmates, let alone her family.

Minstelae nuzzles Celeea. "No, no claws either," she says, her voice cracking a little bit.

The next day comes, and Minstelae wakes up early, for no reason at all, other than the few 'dactyls up high in the trees who were squawking way too loudly for this early in the morning. Stupid 'dactyls, she is thinking crankily. Ah, well. She might as well get up anyway, since they weren't showing any signs of shutting up soon. She yawns, gets up and stretches all over, starting at her neck and moving all the way down to her tail. The others are all asleep, so she figures she will just go walking around before the others wake up. She grunts softly and walks off, going in no direction in particular, that is, until she smells the familiar scent of Lakura nearby. She figures she might as well follow that scent, as she needs to talk to her, anyway.

Min hears some chirping and high-pitched noises behind her. Troodons, she thinks, but then realizes that the scent of Celeea's in there with them. She looks back, and can see that the chick has initiated a game of chase between herself and a small group of the smaller dromaeosaur relatives. She chuckles to herself and continues following Lakura's scent, knowing that Celeea probably won't go far from her. Still, she keeps an eye on her just in case. She wonders to herself how Celeea will react to Lakura, when she shows up. Only one way to know, she thinks to herself.

It isn't long before Minstelae finds Lakura, she is by a river, drinking. She can still sense Celeea behind her, although the Troodons are now gone. Celeea is hiding now, evidently worried about this new Deiny stranger. "Don't worry about it," she tells Celeea, talking in the direction she is hiding in. "No one's gonna hurt you." Celeea eeps softly but still remains in hiding, as Lakura begins to approach Minstelae.

"Hey..." says Lakura, not really saying anything else, but having sort of an expectant look cross her eyes.

"Uhm... hello," Minstelae says. "About that proposition you mentioned the other day... we uhm... agree to it," she says, as a look of smug happiness comes over Lakura.

"Heh... good, then, so it is settled?" Lakura asks, then sniffs the air, evidently having caught Celeea's scent.

Minstelae nods, but doesn't say anything.

"So... who do you have with you?" Lakura asks, her head tilted to one side, and with a slight air of suspiciousness to her tone of voice. "And why... does she smell of... Kal'ai?" she asks, this time really beginning to get suspicious, for some reason unknown to Minstelae. Perhaps she had had bad experiences with him, as well.

Minstelae sighs. "I'm not even sure, myself. He is her brother. You've had dealings with him?" she asks Lakura, hoping to get at least some information about all of this.

"Whose brother? The female hiding in the bushes?" Lakura asks her.

Min nods. "Yes, Kal'ai is her brother, she ran away from him because he mistreated her, and she found me and wanted to be with me, and he came back for her later," she explains. "When I found her again, he had bitten her, but we got him, so hopefully, we won't have to worry about him anymore," she says.

Lakura doesn't say anything, but growls at the mention of Kal'ai being in the area, but then quiets soon, trying to act just a bit more rational at the moment.

Minstelae wants to growl, too, but she knows that perhaps it is best she shouldn't at this point in time, since she might scare Celeea, who was probably already scared by Lakura's growling. "She is only a chick, you know," Minstelae says, just to let Lakura know.

"Oh... she is? Sorry about the growling, then," she says, realizing that perhaps she shouldn't be growling around scared chicks of ally Utahraptor packs who were hiding from her.

Min nods. "It's okay, don't worry about it... but... a little more information on this Kal'ai thing would be quite helpful. Why... did he... do that to her? Bite her and all?" she asks quietly, so that perhaps Celeea won't hear what she is saying, since Minstelae does not want to disturb her.

"You really wanna hear the long story?" Lakura asks, a pained expression on her face?"

"Of course I do. She has accepted me as her mother now, and I feel the need to know these things," she tells Lakura.

Lakura thinks this bit of information is strange. A Utahraptor being a mother to a Deinonychus? Interesting... but then, she supposed there was nothing wrong with it. She shakes the thought out of her mind, and begins to tell the story...

It had happened a few years ago, before Celeea's egg had even been laid. Supposedly, Kal'ai had been born into a large pack of Deinonychus, with a few other brothers and sisters from the same brood. He grew to be about a year or two, and then Kalai's parents had another brood of younger chicks, probably the one that Celeea was from. Some kind of disaster had happened, which killed most of the pack, a flood, followed by fires caused by lightning strikes. Lakura could remember that storm, as it had affected her at some point in time, as well. At any rate, over half the pack had been killed, including the Alphas, who had been Kal'ai's parents. Most of the pack members with any pack status whatsoever had also been killed, and Kal'ai became the new Alpha male, there being no female there to take over the status or at least, none that were allowed to by Kal'ai. It was at that point that Lakura had noticed some changes in Kal'ai. The few times she saw him, and on the even fewer occasions she saw his pack, it always seemed that the pack would grow smaller and smaller, and the members looked unhealthier. She knew something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what. She had noticed a lot of cuts and bruises on certain pack members, too, indicating that some kind of fighting or abuse was taking place, so she had terminated all relations that she had with that pack. After that, she hadn't heard of them ever again, that is, up until she was attacked some time ago, when she had been traveling alone. It had been Kal'ai who had attacked her, probably because she had pushed Kal'ai and his pack away, and he had probably thought of them as traitors and enemies now, although they were not. Lakura just didn't want to have any associations with that pack. She didn't know what all had happened, but she knew something was wrong, and hadn't wanted to have any part in it, whatsoever. Lakura also remembered him saying something about her costing him his pack, when in fact, it had not been Lakura's fault. He had just needed someone else to blame, and she had been right there.

Fortunately, Shanlee had been following Lakura at the time, and somehow found her as she had been attacked, and the two of them had been able to injure Kal'ai and chase him off. After that point, she hadn't seen him or his pack, or relatives, ever since.

"So... that's what I know," Lakura says, beginning to wonder about the chick. "She ever gonna come out? I'm not going to hurt her," she asks Min, curiously, and wanting to meet this chick.

"Don't know, perhaps we can coax her out," she says. "She had reason to be scared of others, though, trust me," Minstelae tells Lakura. Min then turns in Celeea's direction. "I promise you no one's going to hurt you. Lakura here is a friend and a pack ally, come out, please?" Min asks.

There is another soft eep coming from the bushes, but Celeea doesn't come out. Lakura turns in that direction, but doesn't approach the chick. ~Hey... promise not to hurt you,~ she tells the chick in her language, then takes a few steps back, her head ducked, claws underneath her body, in a careful non-threatening pose. She then lies on the ground, her head down, to make herself appear even less frightening.

Min sighs. "Celeea..." but then, before she can say anything more, the chick pops her head out from her hiding spot, then takes a few steps forward. She then sprints over to her mother and lies on the other side of her, the side that Lakura is not on. She hides behind Min and peeks around her legs to look curiously at Lakura.

"She's not hurt, is she?" Lakura asks, noticing the bite wound on the chick's neck.

"Nah... from yesterday? No, she's okay, fortunately," Min responds. Lakura had seemed so self-assured, so cocky the other day, yet at the moment, she really didn't seem so bad, and Min found it surprising, but she chooses not to comment on it. Perhaps these Deinonychus weren't so bad, after all.

Lakura is still wondering if perhaps the chick would like to be with others of her own kind. She looks at Celeea, who has fortunately stepped out from behind Minstelae, cautiously. But still, at least, she had some courage, and Lakura could get a good look at her now. She then looks at Min. "You think she'd be interested in joining our pack, being with her own kind?" she asks the chick's mother.

~N-no. I'm hers,~ Celeea says softly, looking up at Min. "Min... mother," she says, reverting back to Utah language.

Minstelae chuckles. "We tried this already, trust me. She has taken quite the liking to me, although I'm not sure why," Min tells Lakura.

Lakura grins a little bit. "Dunno... good judgment, maybe?" she asks jokingly.

"Guess so..." Min says, getting up to go back and see if the rest of the pack is awake. She bobs her head at Lakura and indicates that she is leaving now. "Later," she says simply, then walks off, Celeea following her.

Lakura says her goodbye, then turns off to walk back towards her pack.

Several months later......

Minstelae wakes up, and it is a little bit overcast. Not much has happened over the past few months, except that Minstelae's new pack (Silent Claw, as they had come to call themselves), had about five new members who had shown up, a family group, fairly recently, and joined. Two of them were chicks, and provided Celeea with playmates. The other three consisted of the chicks' parents, S'rena and J'rakae, and J'rakae's brother, Skraa. Celeea had also learned how to speak the Utah language fairly well, although she still had a bit of Deiny accent, and Min, in turn, had learned to speak some of the Deiny language. And, last of all, Minstelae and Crike were now consorted, as were Jabari and Amber.

Min knew what they would have to do in a few days, and she wasn't looking forward to it. She wanted to avenge the deaths of her parents, but she was afraid. She knew that the Daya were going to try to get at her first, to kill her first, and that they just might succeed. She wasn't going to be up to that, anytime soon. But, she knew that for the safety of her own pack, and Lakura's, that it had to be done. And she knew of the deep-rooted anger that resided within her, that she had pushed away all this time.

A rustling is heard in the underbrush around the pack's den (they had relocated to a nearby cave that Min had found, as the pack had expanded), and Min can tell that it's one of Lakura's packmates, probably back with news on the Daya.

~Min, I'm back,~ the male Deinonychus tells her. ~They seem to have a few more members than you said they had before, but some of the ones you mentioned, I did not see, perhaps they aren't around anymore. So, the pack is slightly bigger, but about the same size,~ he says.

~And does it look like a possibility?~ Min asks him.

The male nods. ~Yes, it does, but only if this is well-planned. Otherwise, it is not so certain.~

Min nods. ~Thanks. If I need you guys, I'll find you. And of course, if you need me, you know where I'll be. If we don't see each other before then, you know when and where we will meet again, in three days.~ She gives him a short head-bob of thanks, and he leaves, heading back to the Shrenaea territory.

Minstelae figured that she would have to get the pack together, to go over the details of what was going to happen. They knew that they were going to attack the Daya, and everyone had agreed to it, for the most part, but she still had to appoint a few tasks.

A few of the pack are gone, Amber and Jabari have run off somewhere, they were probably exploring or just passing the time. They had hunted earlier in the day as well, and perhaps they were over by the kill site, which, fortunately, wasn't too far away. Minstelae lets out a deep call, to let everyone know she needed to speak with them. She then walks over to Crike, and gives him a slight nuzzle.

"They should be here soon," she tells him, and he gives her a slight nod. "I just hope we know what we're getting into," she tells him honestly, while watching Celeea playing with S'rena's chicks near the entrance to the den.

"Yeah, me too. But you're doing the right thing. You deserve to see them fall," he says. "And if I have to die defending you and your cause, I will," he tells her simply.

"And that's what I'm worried about. I would hate to lose any packmate, let alone you, Amber or Celeea. I don't want to lose anyone, and I'm so worried that might happen," she sighs.

"Well, you already know that Amber will be watching the chicks, so you don't have to worry about Celeea or Amber. As for me, well, I'll do my best to stay alive," he tells her, giving her a long, affectionate nuzzle, and grooming her feather-crest softly.

"You'd better. I shall do the same," she says, smiling a little bit, even though the last thing she wants to do at the moment, is to smile.

She then notices that Amber and Jabari are back from wherever they had gone, and she decides to start the meeting. The rest of the pack sees that they're back, and walk over to Minstelae, knowing that they were needed in this discussion, as well.