THE 25th CENTURY RAPTORESS
"Hmmm?" Szitha lowered her tooth filled snout to the little critter. "What is it, honey?" she asked with a calming voice.
"You're nervous. Why?" Kreen asked with a childish innocence the adult could only smile about. The adult also knew that Kreen'd never understand what bothered her. Troödons were dying lately. No specific reason. And few children were born. The adult nudged Kreen.
"No specific reason, it's just that the air is very heavy... depressing." she nodded, finding herself she sounded convincing.
The cloud on the horizon where tinted red. Even though the sun was setting, it seemed unreal... the red was immensely radiant. The air was so warm it was sticky.
Kreen purred softly and retained further questions. "We hunt soon?" she asked, and her raptorian arms hugged the leg of the mother.
Szitha forced herself back to reality. "Hm? Wha...? Oh, yes. Soon, sweetheart, soon." she nodded, at the same time watching the moutains on the horizon. The red was so eerie.
~The bleeding sky, metal of the dagger still embedded and glistening silver, smooth navy skin ripped, torn, shredded, by the rays of the sun, a last attempt of the same to win ... win over the powerful darkness...~ she told herself inwardly.
Kreen was still purring. Szitha chuckled and bent down, placing a paw upon the hatchlings head and stroking. The purring got a bit louder. Suddenly it stopped. "Ma, why's it so warm? It should be getting cooler - night time..." the voice sounded worried.
"It's summer." her mother assured.
The clouds were still red... the sun was only a line on the sea - slowly even Szitha worried. ~The sky is still bleeding. It has never bled this long...~ she frowned. She closed her eyes a moment. ~Sky? Sky, please do not die, we need the safety of your darkness...~
"Who tore the sky, ma?" the hatchling asked.
"The sun. It does that everyday, you know that." Szitha tried.
"But... it's still there. The sun isn't that powerful." the little one complained.
"Maybe it's grown. Like you will." Szitha chuckled, a pleasant sound hiding her concern.
"Grown, but how?" Kreen insisted. Childish innocence COULD get annoying and Szitha made a mental note of that. She remained silent and got a childing fist connection to her shin for that... a soft, playful gesture. "Hmm?" she said, pretending not to have heard. "How, ma?" Kreen repeated, pouting a bit. "How what?" she asked, as innocently as she could and inwardly burst out laughing. Kreen gave up.
Szitha fixed her gaze upon the blood that splattered the sky. ~Ssssssssssssssssssszith... haaaaa......~ it seemed to be calling her. Slowly she began to walk towards it, the paws of a startled Kreen sliding off her shin. The hatchling blinked, puzzled. "Ma, you going hunting now? Can I come?" Kreen asked.
~Hunt, hunt, yes, I am hunting the sky now.~ Szitha told herself.
"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" Kreen chortled and tripped as she tried to follow, running, then falling splat on her nose. Szitha didn't seem to notice any of her moves. What was going on?
Entranced to the extreme, the adult moved on. Red clouds - they glowed. They were not just red, they seemed to be rubies, or made of the same... shimmering, refracting what little light was there.
Kreen watched the adult vanish through the trees down the slope of the hill they were on and into the pure darkness of it's leaves. He saw the red was spreading, slowly, but surely, veins of flaring silver and neon orange pulsing like true ateries, but what did they carry if not blood? And why was her mom walking to where it was coming from?
Kreen squealed and bumped into the Troödon sleeping behind her as the color spreading seemed to speed up. The Troödon behind her grunted and opened an eye to her direction ... and saw the red clouds.
The adult male reared up within seconds, staggering backwards on four feet, then on two. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" he demanded, in a terrified voice. His face was a mirror of the same, eyes wide and mouth half opened in a visage tormented by angst. Kreen lost her last doubt. This was a bad thing. The adult turned and darted away, caring little about the others.
Kreen hissed lowly as the pulsing red raced overhead and a wave of warmth nearly knocked her over. It was an even heavier air, one could almost taste the heat. Kreen whimpered as she fell due to the momentum.
The adult male reared up within seconds, staggering backwards on four feet, then on two. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" he demanded, in a terrified voice. His face was a mirror of the same, eyes wide and mouth half opened in a visage tormented by angst. Kreen lost her last doubt. This was a bad thing. The adult turned and darted away, caring little about the others.
Kreen hissed lowly as the pulsing red raced overhead and a wave of warmth nearly knocked her over. It was an even heavier air, one could almost taste the heat. Kreen whimpered as she fell due to the momentum.
She had to almost push herself up again and felt her downy feathers bend under the stress of the strong breeze. Sickeningly slowly and taking its time, the air decided to cease it's display of strength. The warmth remained, making Kreen involuntarily shiver, some of her scales had been cooler than the air was around them now, creating an uncomfortable feeling.
She looked around. The adult male had vanished. She had expected no less. Even though she had, seconds earlier, been terrified of the force that made the sky bleed, she wondered why she had, at the same time. It was warm, a soothing warmth, why should that frighten anyone. Was the male also feeling this? How far had the breeze gone?
At the same instant as she questioned the extent of this miracle, she pondered it's source. Szitha, her mother - had she not tried to find out? She had not been afraid, much like herself now. Determined, she decided to follow her mothers paths and began to pad downhill to the forest edge where she saw her mother. That beyond that point was a jungle-like forest where she would miss her mother if she was further away than four meters bothered her little. At that moment she neither cared how long it would take her keen senses to take a note of the familiar scent, touch, look of the creature called mother, nor thought about it.
The earth below her was eerily cold. Each time she set a paw upon this ground, her foot itched to yerk back. It made no sense to the hatchling why the ground was not warm aswell and it creeped her slightly. Kreen let out a wailing sound, hoping her mother was near enough to hear it. She paused at the forest's edge. "MOOOOOOOOM!" she screeched out. The entire forest made no moves to greet her cry. All remained in heavy silence.
"Mom?" she tried again, feeling somewhat that a polite question was less of a disturbance. Maybe it would get her an answer? The forest remained quiet in all edges. And that moment she wondered where the fliers had gone. They usual made a huge noise when they heard Troödontidae. For what reason ever. She felt tears well up inside her - it wasn't SUPPOSED to be this silent. She felt very alone. Her determination grew. She hated being alone. She would go into that forest, if it was only to see an insect, a bug, a furry or whatever other creatures dwelled therein.
There was a flicker of something in the distance of her view, golden like the sun - was the sun returning to claim the world now that the sky had obviously been defeated? 'Defeated - bah, viciously slain and skinned!' she thought and shuddered. In truth, she didn't mind the sun as much as her parents obviously did. But what went too far went too far. You couldn't just KILL your rivals in a fight for ranks. Then suddenly she remembered the spoken-thoughts of her mother. ~Hunt, hunt, yes, I am hunting the sky now.~ she had said-thought. Hunt the skies. Prey afterall?
And now she understood why the adults hated the sun. Troödonts respected their prey for it kept them alive, they would never wipe it out for it would mean their death aswell. The Sun killed the sky - The Sun died - They died. It was a wicked thoughtlessness of The Sun indeed.
She padded through the forest, not actually aware when she set foot on it's grounds. "Mom?" she called out again. There was not big point to calling out, none other than forcing her mind not to drift away, at least. She saw a few creatures. They were soundless, most avoiding her path, all smaller than her. She even caught sight of a furry once. But her mother remained lost. She paused on a clear area of earth and let her gaze discover the full radius of view. She spotted nothing like the scales of her mother's hide, but a fallen tree bending the trunk of another slightly, a perfect chance to climb up onto it and see far more.
She walked onto it, balancing as not to fall, using her forepaws to grip the texture of the bark from time to time. She halted on the far end, split and splitered, crown-less. She nearly attempter to leap over the gap to climb the other tree, but she noticed it was too steep - she would fall, even if she would use her forepaws all the way. At least, she was sure she would, and therefore decided not to risk it.
~Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen...~ the golden shimmer called.
~Shut yourself up, Sun. We'll all die because of you now.~ she snorted.
~Kreen, you know it is silly to try and do anything.~ her conscience spoke to her through the glow.
~I'm just looking for my mother.~ Kreen hissed back.
~Szitha is with me.~ the glow bluntly said.
~Give her back.~ Kreen hissed once more, getting agitated.
Silence.
~I said give her back!~ Kreen snarled and hurridly scrambled back down the diagonal trunk, having seen no sign of her mother.
Silence.
~I will fight you for mom if I have to.~ Kreen shouted-thought out. Her eyes were wet with tears. Alone - she hated being that.
A loud snap crack behind her startled her and made her whirl around. Something that resembled red snow, fading in color just like the white usually did, lay upon the leaf of a larger fern. It hissed at her. ~Challenge accepted.~ it told her. And glowed golden - the next second, the golden glow swallowed the leaf and made it dance in strange shapes... the air was already warm, but this wasn't helping on cooling it at all. Kreen backed up, lowering her body, bearing her teeth and hissing.
"KREEN!" a voice made her head snap up from the starting fight. "MOM!" she replied, joyous to see the Troödon again. Her tail swiped the gold and it made her yelp in a temporary pain, which only promoted the urge to run to her mother. She did. Purring, she rubbed her head against the biological warmth of her mother. "Kreen, no time for that..." her mother said, with a solemness it struck the small creature. The jaws of her mom closed around her juvenile shape, a gently but firm grip. "Mom?"
~The Sun is here, and It's too powerful to fight... we should run.~ Szitha informed.
~It told me you're with It?~ Kreen blinked at the paradox. It confused her. She believed both - the Sun couldn't afford to lie.
~I was. But only physically. My heart stays with you, honey.~ Szitha refrained from nodding her head as she darted back out of the forest. In awe, Kreen gazed around. More red snow. And a lot of gold, too, shining brightly. Was the sun dying now too? Bleeding? Or was this still the lifeblood of the sky? She was so entranced by it that she forgot to ask her mother. In a way, it wasn't even important now.
They broke out of the foliage and her mother sprinted up the hill, where she paused at it's top to set Kreen down. The forest was leaking gold at various points, more of it to where the red had come from. Now Kreen slowly understood. It had been a warning.
"Maybe the sky isn't dead, mom. Maybe it was trying to warn us." Kreen suggested, tilting her juvenile head.
"Kreen, It's bleeding, what exactly do you think? I doubt It'll survive." Szitha said, with a hint of worry and maybe even pity to her voice.
{ maybe I'll actually finish this one day... ]