Endangered Quatzols Astorlandstories Volume 2

6. Trapped! ("Gefangen!")

Gloatingly the raptors brown eyes were grinning at Ajuj. "Well sweety", he took a step towards her. "didn't expect that huh?". Ajuj looked around in panic. They were encircling her! She tried to search for an escape route, but every direction was blocked by one of the raptors. Even if she tried, she probably would get trapped again.

The brownish raptor, probably the leader of the pack, stopped at a short distance from her. Only the corpse of the originally greenish Quatzol separated prey from predator. She lowered her neck in fear, trying to protect her neck. The leader bent forward towards her. Did he want to kill her? In the corner of her eye she saw Kyloth still laying on the ground. Something still kept her hoping for him to wake up. The raptors breath she felt got her looking towards her enemy again. His scarred face was directly in front of her, leaving her with a unpleasant feeling. A small scar on his forehead indicated his fighting experience. His green brown patterned eyes were still fixed on her. She unconsciously followed the slight slant of his skull. Like a playful dog he switched between different tilt angles. She was calm, stiff, standing by his stare. He quickly blinked, this could have been her chance to subdue the raptor. Her eyes were searing. Maybe he was just waiting for her to blink. His relaxed voice got her out of her thoughts. "What are you anyways?". He started inspecting her. Ajuj realized her parents had never met these raptors. They were not here. Not able to help her out of this situation. They had always been there, during their flying lessons, she also remembered the flight, where they protected the couple from the two-legged. Where were they?  "Hey!", Ajuj made a jump. The raptor looked even more ferocious than before. "I asked you something", he continued slightly annoyed. His head turned onto the other side. Ajuj kept hesitating . What should she tell him? The raptors head lowered in annoyance, right before switching to a slight tilt again. "We are...", she looked at Kyloth, "Well, I am...", the raptor poked his snout onto her forehead exhaling with impatience. "I am a Quatzol". He took his head back just to tilt it again. He started grinning and stepping around. "So you are? I just thought, I finally met a oversized chicken!". He pointed his head towards her wings. "I'm still quite young...", she tried to explain, resulting in laughter. He took a step back. "Too young to fly away huh?". Ajuj just realized her chance to escape, but the bizarre creature bend towards her again. "Well now my li'll chicken," he started talking menacingly, without losing eye contact, "would you mind finally taking your feet off my prey?". He looked at Kyloth. Ajuj followed his look. Wait what was he up to? Did he want to eat it?. "No", she shouted in shock and anger towards the grinning raptor. She immediately regret this decision, the look of him darkened. She lowered her head in humility. She was still trapped. Abandoning Kyloth to his fate was unacceptable, but angering the raptor probably wasn't a good idea either. To her surprise the reptile started laughing again. Ajuj saw his sharp teeth flashing in the sunlight. Suddenly he fell silent again, focusing on the small Quatzol again. "Funny birds you are", he mumbled. Ajuj was not sure whether he was angered or amused. What was he up to? Ajuj got coinfused by his reactions. Was he not mad at her? Or is he just playing along?

The raptor realized her uncertainty, smiling sheepishly. Ajuj now realized, he was not as certain as he appeared to be. Was he scared? Scared of a non-flightable bird. Rubbish. But what was it then? Why did he hesitate? The raptor exhaled loudly turning towards his pack, still blocking her without further movement. She had almost forgotten them. "Take the dead Qua..Que...", he paused rolling his eyes. "Just take the bird with you". The raptors started picking him up. "Hey chicken!", the leader turned towards Ajuj gazing fiercly. "You follow!". He turned away from the scared bird creature and quietly added: "And you better don't try to run away. We will get you - and i guess you don't want this to happen to you". He pointed on Kyloth, which was now being dragged along the ground by his pack members. Ajuj looked around. Maybe escaping is not a bad idea. Maybe they were faster than her, but who said she would be safe with them? He was not looking. Now or never. Suddenly the raptor turned back to her, pressing his snout peacefully onto her forehead. "We won't hurt you. You got me?", he focused on her eyes and Ajuj nodded nervously. The raptor hummed calmly, lowering his head so their foreheads opposed each other. His eyes were closed. Ajuj was confused. She knew this gesture very well. They parents used to perform it to each other or towards their children. Tiesh called it the "Astorland peace gesture". He used to stress its importance: "I wont hurt you - you wont hurt me". It was an unwritten rule of the Astorland, which almost got lost in the flight. But where did the raptor know it. Tiesh always told her it was special to members of the Astorland only. 

"in actual fact, what is your name? I'm quite sure you don't want to be called chicken all the time." She answered and the raptor continued: "Well they call me White Tip - due to...well my white tip. these guys over there...", he pointed at them individually. "these are Sharp and the grey one's called Raj".

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Hi guys :P
I hope you don't hate me for the last few chapters :X

You'll probably have a lot of fun with Whitey (he'd probably kill me for calling him "Whitey", so shhhh!) in the next chapters. He's one of the weirdest characters i ever wrote...pretty unpredictable...