K i r a r ' s L i f e S t o r y

A pair of silver eyes appeared in the underbrush of Early Cretaceous plants. They stared intently at the large group of Iguanodon and Astrodon, who were bellowing and roaring. The eyes shift between each herbivore, looking for a weaker target; an injured or alone one.
The eyes belong to a young female Utahraptor, the Alpha female of a small clan who makes their home nearby. She moves quietly through the conifers and cycads, not making a sound. She sees the eyes of her clanmates nearby. They, too, were searching for a potential victim, yet they remained in the Alpha’s range of sight.
The female pauses momentarily as her eyes scan over a particularly large Iguanodon bull. She slinks forward, stopping at the edge of the trees. This one.. this male. He’s our victim.. Our prey. She silently chooses this lone Iguan, her body language telling the rest of the pack their target. Each of the five eyes nod once and begin to circle closer to the grazing male.
She waits patiently for everyone to take their position. She cocks her head in the direction of two pairs of eyes, who were staring back at her. She nodded.
The two ‘Raptors, a mated couple younger than the Alpha, darted from the underbrush and lunged out at the Iguan. The female hit his side, knocking him to the ground, while the other leaped onto his neck.
The Alpha female nods to two other pair of eyes. The youths, her oldest children from a brood last year, nodded back and ran towards the flailing, bellowing target, leaping next to the female on the Iguan’s torso. They both began to carve up their victim, using their hand claws and foot claws alike.
The Alpha nods to her mate, the Alpha male. They run from the underbrush and join the attack.
In five minutes the Iguan male is dead, his torso ripped open, organs showing through the skin.
The ‘Raptors jumped from the body and nodded to each other in congratulations. The Alpha female glanced over at the herd to make sure they weren’t about to attack them. But the herd moved away, only one pausing to look over at her dead mate before joining her herdmates.
The Alpha female smiles and turns to her packmates.
“Well done, everyone. Nira, Keyo, excellent work. You are accepted.”
The young ‘Raptor couple smiles at each other before bowing their heads.
“Thank you, Ceyro,” Nira says to the Alpha Female.
Ceyro bobs her head once before walking to the carcass. She plunges her long, red snout into one of the wounds and pulls out a warm hunk of dino innards. She gulps it down before grabbing another. Her mate joins her.
When they have eaten their fill, they retreat a few yards and sit down next to each other. The rest of the pack move in to eat as Ceyro licks the blood off of her talons. When the pack is filled and their talons cleaned, the pack trots southwards, towards their caves. The landscape begins to steadily incline with each step they take until the forest shrinks away into cold, hard stone.
The caves come into view soon after. The Alphas and their two children trot into one while Nira and Keyo trot into the one next to theirs.
Once inside, another member bows to the Alphas. “Ma’am, your eggs are safe and warm.”
“Thank you, Recira. You may go back to your cave now.”
Recira bows again and retreats outside. Ceyro walks over to the nest of two eggs in the back of the cave and nudges each one with her snout. All are warm, and it seems they are going to hatch any day. She bumps her mate’s snout before curling around her nest and falling asleep.
The Alpha male looks over at his two older children.
“Kirar, Calilio, I want to thank you for helping in the hunt.”
“You’re welcome, Father,” Kirar says, bobbing his head.
“You two go to sleep. The sun is setting. Tomorrow we’re going to help your mother with your future siblings. It will be a long day.”
Kirar nodded and walked over to the opposite end of the cave, near the entrance. He lowered himself against the stone wall, Calilio settling next to him. They talked quietly for a few minutes before falling asleep.