Kingdom of the Feathered Queen

[[Grep]]

A R C H E R
I walk this lonely road;
The only one that I have ever known;
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All was peaceful on the grassland, little animals grazed and the song-birds sang. A few butterflies even fluttered about. Suddenly, this peacefulness stopped, the animals fled for their lives, and the birds stopped singing. The feathered queen had just appeared. Most of the animals could only see pink legs... and huge talons meant only for tearing apart flesh and crushing tiny bodies. The queen observed her kingdom with sharp eyes perched 9 feet off the ground, taking in every movement or wave in the grass. She was hungry, hunting for any unfortunate soul who happened to come across her path. Archer was not the apex predator of this land, there were other candidates for the role that daily she smashed their heads. Courageous saber-toothed cats, numerous dire wolves, idiotic yet strong hyenadons, and the gluttons known as entelodont, all looking to earn the title of apex predator.

Ah, she saw something, something delicious. In the distance, four prehistoric horses grazed, unawares of her presence. Archer possessed the tools for all methods of capture; speed to catch her prey quickly, smarts to ambush, and stamina to run them to exhaustion. Shrinking as low to the ground as the hulking bird could, Archer crept forward towards her quarry. Satisfied with the distance, she took a few moments to observe them, looking for past injuries and the old or young. Now that she was closer, she saw trailing behind a female was a small colt. Easy enough prey, she could probably swallow it whole. Target selected, the bird jumped up and ran to the horses, who realized the bird only too late. Seconds later, the screaming brays of the colt echoed through the plains. The mother ran at Archer, who was busy driving her beak deep into her child's flesh. Archer's legs were kicked from under her, and with a loud thump she hit the ground. The bird was barely able to get up as the horse kept kicking and trampling her, and when she did her ankle was twisted. Archer limped away as quick as she could, and a few yards later the horse decided she was a safe distance from the dead colt. Archer settled into a sitting position, leaning on her other leg as she examined her twisted ankle.

[lunarcat7]

Light and pain, dreams and memories that surfaced on his mind like oil on water. Asael let his thoughts drift as he tried not to fight them, tried not to struggle. In a few moments they would be over and he would drift back down into the peaceful black of sleep or wake to the piercing light of day.

Emerald eyes snapped open at the sound of something large on the move and the shriek of ending life. The cave lion rose and seemed to melt into the golden grass as he slipped away from the tree he'd been napping under. The grasslands had become a shelter for many of the animals here as the glaciers in the north moved ever farther south. There was plentiful prey but plentiful predators as well and Asael wanted to know just what and who was in the area. He believed in being aware and prepared. The massive cat paused for a moment as he spied a shape in the distance. Carefully he began to sink down into the grass so he could creep a bit closer. His tail twitched in curiosity as he spied the massive bird that was hunting. He flinched at the violent pounding the bird creature was receiving from the furious mother.

Asael hesitated. Nature was a furious foe and could turn on predator or prey at the slightest whim and while he preferred not to get involved he had been rather lonely lately. Perhaps this fowl would engage him in conversation for the horses most certainly would not and he could not understand their tongue anyway. Drawing a breath, his fanged maw opened in a powerful roar that rocked across the grassland, startling everything nearby including the herd. He hesitated for a moment and watched as the herd took off one way and the bird another.

The cave lion trotted along toward the bird, ears and head up to seem not threatening. He had no desire to eat the massive feathered creature, even despite her injury. "Are you alright?"