Take a nap

I stood with a frustrated huff as I turned to slink back to my bed of twigs. My empty stomach grumbled, urging me on a subconscious level to go out and find food but Mother had forbidden leaving the den. So, with yet another frustrated huff, I nudged aside a few wrinkly eggshells before curling myself into a ball where I closed my eyes to fall asleep. A scant few of my siblings returned to join me in the nest where they sat making nought but the occasional chirp.

I awoke some hours later to a loud disturbance in the den. Bleary-eyed, I peeled back one eyelid to see Mother had returned. My siblings appeared to be fighting over something she brought in. Curious, I sniffed the stale air that stank of damp earth, feathers and mouldy wood, and to my surprise, a sweet scent flooded my nostrils. Food, I chirped groggily as I rose to my feet before racing towards the meal I had so longed for.

Squeezing myself into the converged mass of feathery bodies, I pushed my head in, straining to reach the carcass buried within. Although mauled nearly beyond recognition, I still managed to identify the honourable creature that had given itself for me to feed on.

Processing Visual Feedback

Identifying

Anchiornis huxleyi - Adult(Carcass)

I shall remember this show of loyalty, Anchiornis, I muttered, promising myself.

With a heart full of respect, I bit deeply into the creature's guts, ruthlessly ripping out a strip of flesh and swallowing it down in one move. The succulent morsel slid easily down my throat. Barely taking a moment to appreciate the sweet, salty, bloody taste in my mouth I immediately returned to gorging myself as my baser instincts took over, driving me to feed faster.

Soon, my hunger was fully satiated and all that was left of the carcass were a few bloody bones, a pile of brown feathers and a crimson patch of wet soil on the den’s floor.

Feeling somewhat heavy as a result of my full stomach, I slinked back to Mother’s side where I curled up against her before promptly falling asleep again. At some point, my slumber was briefly disturbed as Mother stood to leave the nest. Bleary-eyed, I tracked her departing figure, only to immediately fall back asleep the moment her feathery tail tuft disappeared from my line of sight.

For a few hours, I and a scant few more of my siblings slept undisturbed. The ones that remained awake either sat quietly or were at the other side of the bed of twigs, closer to the den’s exit, where they toyed around with the remains of that honourable Anchiornis from earlier.

I stood with a small shake of my body, inadvertently dislodging the small pieces of wood that got stuck in my fluffy down when I slept. A few stubborn twigs refused to fall off, but a quick reflexive groom took care of that.

Content with my current state of affairs, I almost subconsciously wandered out of the den, curious as to what lay outside. Only the sudden remembrance of Mother’s earlier reprimand kept me anchored inside the den. I glanced at the siblings who sat next to the den’s entrance with the sudden realisation that they might have been having the same thoughts as I did. Feeling somewhat placated that I wasn’t suffering alone in my desire to exit the den I joined them, sitting beside one that appeared to be slowly dozing off. There I awaited Mother's return, staring out at the warm light leaking into the den from the entrance.

…

It has been a few days since I first hatched and I could vaguely sense that I was slowly growing bigger. At least that was good, maybe someday I might grow up to be just as big as Mother and then no one would dare attempt to take what's mine again. I bit into the remains of an Anchiornis while at the same time keeping a wary eye on this particularly troublesome sibling crouching before me. I could feel my neck feathers rise again as the cursed fellow slinked a step closer to the carcass. With a sharp glare and a growl, I flared out, the feathers on my forearm extending as a warning to this impudent sibling of mine.

They ignored it.

My rage peaked as the fellow bit onto one of the carcass limbs and began pulling at it. I lunge forward, clamping my jaws around their outstretched neck. Immediately the troublemaker panicked, furiously flapping their clawed forearms and kicking in a desperate attempt to free themself. Letting go, I watched with a glare as the cursed fellow cowered, scampering off to the other side of the den with a slightly bloodied neck and a possibly bruised ego.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Get gud, Scrub!

I turned a stern glare to my other siblings with a guttural hiss, daring anyone who would dare challenge me for the carcass. None approached, watching what was left of our meal with a hint of longing from a safe distance away. Triumphant, I turned back to my meal and began to consume it, my subconscious dully noting the approving stare mother sent my way.

…

As per usual I sat at my designated seat near the den’s entrance. It was close enough to the spot where mother always drops our meal when she returns but still far enough that I did not have to worry about the bony remains of our earlier meals poking my soft underbelly when I rested. Beside me were my three favourite siblings, the closest of which was Bone, the one who happened to enjoy playing with bones for some reason that I still, to this moment, fail to comprehend.

The other two were Claw and Runt. Claw was almost as strong as I was, yet she was smart enough to know it was utter foolishness to fight with me over my Food, while Runt was the smallest of my three favourite siblings―Although she was still much bigger than the rest of the brood, that didn’t matter much since the others weren’t that important.

Two of my siblings spontaneously began fighting. Feeling quite irate myself I swivelled my head in their direction and hissed, my neck feathers puffing up in a threatening display. The two were quick to cease hostilities and peace returned to the nest―well, that was until mother slinked in carrying food in her jaws I immediately stood up and scurried towards her only to freeze in place as I noticed my food was writhing in her jaw for some reason. The rest of my siblings watched confused as well as mother dropped the creature on the floor before firmly planting herself at the den’s exit. She simply sat there, watching us expectantly as if waiting for us to do something.

I tilted my head as I stared at the strange, unfamiliar creature.

Processing Visual Feedback

Identifying

Anchiornis huxleyi - Juvenile(Prey item)

I turned my gaze toward Mother with an inquisitive chirp. Food, she purred back. I glanced at the creature, amused as I watched the creature a tad larger than my smallest sibling hopping around on one spot and clicking aggressively, seemingly in a desperate bid to intimidate us. It appeared to be bleeding with one of its forearms hanging limply at its side.

That said, its aggressive display didn't little to deter me. I could see a few of my siblings slowly slink forward, warily watching the creature's strange threat display.

It should be food right? They did look like food. But Food didn’t move. Food had never moved. Only Mother, Claw, Bone and Runt… and the other―lesser―siblings moved.

It should be food, I ascertained to myself after a moment of thought. Mother had only ever brought food back and to be honest I had no real reason to doubt her. Food, Mother purred again, huffing towards the increasingly terrified creature.

Uncertainty, hunger and trust warred in my heart for a moment, but hunger and trust immediately won by a landslide. I lunged towards Food, biting down on its lower left flank before thrashing my head from side to side. The creature surprisingly retaliated, kicking me in the chest and dislodging me from its body but unfortunately for it the damage had already been done. Blood spilt out the gash I tore in its abdomen. Even if I had failed to bite it, its fate had already been sealed as the rest of my siblings immediately lost all their inhibitions with my valiant pounce. I dove right back in just in time to see Claw rip a long strip of meat from its abdomen and swallow it in one move, the creature screeching, thrashing and kicking as myself and the rest of my siblings engorged ourselves on its succulent innards.

…

Mother purred, urging us out of the den. After being denied the privilege of vacating the den for so long I had grown apprehensive about the thought of leaving it. It was a rather curious feeling, being vaguely afraid of what I had once longed for. Cautiously, I slinked towards the exit. A careful trudge uphill and a push past some shrubbery soon brought me out into the open world.

I squinted for a moment, outside being much brighter than I expected it to be. Reflexively blinking a few times my blurred vision soon cleared as my eyes adapted to the higher light intensity. Wow! I chirped to myself as I swept my gaze around. The outside world is amazing!

For one, It’s much bigger than inside the den. All around was a clearing many Mothers long dotted with little shrubs, twigs, bushes and rocks. Above was a bright yellow ceiling so high that I couldn’t tell by how much. It was high though. Like really, REALLY high. Surrounding the clearing were trees. Great trees many, many Mothers tall and filled with twigs, leaves and… food?

I tilted my head slightly to the left as I watched about a dozen Anchiornises(?) dart around in the trees above. Despite having just fed about an hour ago my stomach grumbled longingly at the sight. I turned my gaze back to Mother hoping she would convince one to crawl down from the trees so I could eat it but sadly, she seemed too preoccupied with ushering the rest of my siblings out of the den to notice all the food scampering in the trees above. Urgh! Stupid siblings! Always ruining mealtime.

Just as I contemplated convincing the food to crawl down myself, I noticed a figure walking in our direction. I swivelled my head towards the intruder and to my surprise, it was another creature… that looked just like Mother.

I tilted my head, observing as they approached Mother before nudging her in the side like my favourite siblings always did when they wanted my attention. Mother nudged them back with a clicking noise before turning her attention back towards my siblings and me. A few more Siblings-of-Mother crawled out of the shrubbery, repeating what the first did before also turning their attention toward us. One of the largest ones approached Claw and nudged her in the side. Claw chirped back like she always does when I nudge her.

The Sibling-of-Mother turned their attention towards me, nudging me in the crook of my shoulder.

I nudged back in kind, clicking exactly as Mother had just moments ago.