The Shift

A fanfiction by SilverWings

Chapter 6

The ribcage was beginning to look more and more developed. The vegetation the clan had collected had been used to cover the bones, forming a blanket like canopy over half of the bones. One of the smaller ribs had been snapped in half, dragged around to form the back of the camp. Sand had been scraped away to leave a large space for prey. At the moment, the pile was pitifully small. Tealfeather dropped the body of the lystrosaurus in the pile and caught sight of her brother lying in a ball with his tail resting over his nose. At the sight of Teal, he brightened visibly and bounded over to help her disentangle the hardy shrub from her claws. A smaller pile of plants and the like was assembled next to the prey pile, and Tealfeather dropped the bush there. "Ghasp!" she sighed dramatically. "*Why* are you sitting around? Surely that's illegal!"

"Bloodfeather wants us to go with him and some other raptors to map our surroundings. The same Bloodfeather that's standing behind you, in fact." Bronzefeather said.

Tealfeather spun around. Sure enough, Bloodfeather was standing behind her, an angry look on his face.

"Hello Father." she said.

"We're leaving," he said shortly. Bloodfeather stalked away.

"*Why* do you keep doing that?" hissed Bronzefeather.

"He annoys me."

Bronzefeather looked as though that was not good enough reasoning, which was strange, after all, *he* was the one who charged off into the desert because he missed her!

"We should go," sighed Tealfeather.

Teal had been on patrols before, but this one was extremely boring and uneventful. *Nothing* interesting happened. Granted, Tealfeather didn't know what classified as 'interesting' in this new, barren landscape, but surely it was more exciting than *this*. At least it was coming to an end. Bloodfeather lead the patrol, with Yellowfeather closely behind. Tawnyfeather and Forestfeather - Greyfeather's parents - were in front of them, and Bronze and Teal took up the rear. There wasn't a peep from anyone as they silently surveyed the landscape, looking for threats and landmarks alike. They neared a group of trees. A rustling came from one of the bushes. An unfamiliar burst from the bushes, leaping at Bloodfeather. Instantly, the other raptors attacked, clawing at the threat to their leader. There was a high shriek of alarm as the raptor realised there were many more enemies than he had originally thought. "STOP!" rang the cry of Bloodfeather. "Leave me alone with him."

The other raptors exchanged puzzled looks, one by one, they left in the direction of the camp, barely visible in the rapidly falling night. Teal made in the direction of the ribcage, then looked around and crouched behind the bushes. She could faintly make out the shale of Bloodfeather, standing over the other raptor, who was on the ground and bleeding from several scratches and cuts. "What are you doing here, Star?" hissed Bloodfeather. Star? Did Bloodfeather *know* this raptor?

"You raptors promised never to set foot near me or my territory." he continued.

"W-we have a n-new leader, sir. H-he dosent abide b-by the treaty. said Star, blood seeping from his wounds.

"Tell me his name."

"I d-don't know what i-it is."

"LAIR!"

"P-please..."

Before Star could finish, Bloodfeather lunged toward him, biting down on his neck with lethal force.