Winter's Voice

Hurt

Fall was nearing its end. It was evident in the withered bushes of ferns, benetites, and some coniferous plants. The land was adorned in subdued hues, and the sky remained covered with gray clouds, as if color were fading from the world. Beneath a tall Monkey Puzzle tree, two large theropod dinosaurs perched. Their bodies blended with the black-and-white surroundings due to gray feathers, adorned with white stripes on the sides and small spots on the back. The female ruffled her feathers, cleaning the dried mud off her snout, while the male rested lazily and yawned.

"Looking forward to winter," Xink scratched her neck, shaking off the remaining mud.

"Can't wait for our backsides to freeze, and there'll be nothing to eat?" Yuta grumbled, annoyed by the mud that seemed omnipresent in the cold months.

"Get up; you'll catch an infection," he continued, heading towards a rock, confident his sister would follow. Her tail injury was healing well, but infections shouldn't be ignored, especially in winter – a fact she was well aware of.

She held her tongue and trailed behind her brother. The retort lingering on her tongue would never reach his heart. Young trees blocked the entrance to the stone. She turned momentarily, feeling the branches rubbing against her back. They had grown taller; it seemed like just yesterday when she tried to reach a branch that didn't extend so high.

She caught up with her brother, gazing in the same direction he turned his head. Below them stretched the lowest point of the valley, overgrown with ivy and ferns in summer but now barren and devoid of its inhabitants. In the distance, the last herd of large herbivores could be seen, choosing to spend winter a bit farther south.

"Those will be the last Bolongs. Surprised they stayed this long," Xink remarked. Yuta gave her a disgruntled look, nudging her shoulder with his snout to make her step aside.

"Let's go," he ordered. He didn't want to miss the last Bolong of the year and believed he could catch up. Though his sister gave him an expressive look, she followed because she had no choice. Instinct guided her to stick with her brother, even though his company often brought trouble. Hormones were changing him more than she expected, but she could still predict him and saw certain rules that could keep her alive. That mattered most now, especially with winter approaching. Each summer brought a chance to find a mate, and even if her brother doesn't agree, these might be the conditions under which she could finally forget about his opinions.

The descent from the cliffs turned out to be easier than the long kilometers across the plateau, where the distance seemed endless. Little hiding places were available, and the presence of several pterosaurs gave away their position. Xink had to persuade Yuta again: "They are long gone from our territory," she complained quietly. However, her brother ignored her until she stopped him, having sensed something. Before she could tell Yuta, she had to dodge his jaws. In his mind, her stopping was a signal of disrespect, and she needed to learn a lesson.

"Nothing beyond this border, what's your problem again?" he said, crossing an imaginary line. Xink crouched, signaling with her eyes to the sky. A colder wind blew, and the pterosaurs descended towards a dark, foul-smelling heap on the ground. Yuta noticed them and headed towards them, followed by his sister. He forgot about the lecture immediately. However, Xink sensed more than just meat in the air; there was a warning. She never trusted anything blindly and was sometimes overly cautious due to her experiences: "I just hope that creature wasn't sick," she sniffed the body, then lied down in the dust. Yuta nudged her away and growled. She stood up, avoiding further comments.

"Don't be so picky," he gave her a sharp look. She ignored it, looking up at the swiftly moving clouds. Something glinted in the air: "Yuta, look," she nodded to a small flying piece of frozen water. More followed. Winter had arrived. Yuta watched a snowflake land on his nose in disbelief. The wind suddenly picked up, and snowflakes began to dance: "We need to get out," Yuta agreed with the earlier suggestion. Ignoring winter warnings could be dangerous. In such a desert, they could easily get lost; a combination of snowflakes, wind, and dust would create a curtain that could make the ground disappear beneath their feet. One last feast wasn't worth it. He walked past his sister, who watched the pterosaurs scatter but not too high, seeking refuge in the distant trees. After a while, she tore her gaze away and focused on the white tip of Yuta's tail. She moved closer to his side because her feathers were tingling with cold and dampness from the increasing snowflakes. Fortunately, the trees were approaching, and a few flakes at the edge of the forest were a stark contrast to what herds of herbivores, heading south, would soon have to endure. Yuta glanced briefly at Xink, laughing at her sour expression. She barred teeth as the wind tousled her feathers in all directions. As soon as they reached the branches of Monkey Puzzle tree wood, she tucked her snout to the side, and within moments, they were covered in a gentle snow blanket. Her eyes closed, and she eventually fell asleep.