[Trade] Vesper Falls In A Hole

The Craftmaster slammed his stick into the ground in a final fit of impatience.

“No deal, bring materials, I’ll build the nest, otherwise, leave,” he said slowly, dragging out the ‘leave’ as long as he could. Vesper rolled his eyes.

“Okay fine, I’ll scrounge something up, you old miser,” he grouched. The raccoon’s eye twitched but he refused to engage in further bickering when he had work to do. He returned to his current project as the young Suchomimus stalked off back into the streets of the Dead City. He had hoped to bargain for a free nest but the surly raccoon was in a bad mood today it seemed. 

Vesper was becoming well acquainted with his urban surroundings. He was learning how to navigate pretty well at this point. Each man made oddity acted as a landmark for him; the black sideways lamppost pointed his way home from the Craftmaster’s temporary stall, the blue bench marked the entrance to a Utahraptor den and the green sign pointing left told him it was time to turn right to reach his destination. 

The Craftmaster told him that these places had been  places of bartering and trade for humans, back when they existed. Vesper heard a lot about humans but he wasn't sure they were real; he was certain that some dextrous dinosaurs would be capable of building these things. He didn't know how to build them personally, but he was sure a well educated raptor could take a crack at it. He picked through the rubble, overturning chunks of debris to try and loot the last of the supplies he needed for the nest. The trade buildings usually had a good supply of materials but Vesper hated going in there, the dark surroundings creeped him out and the dust made him sneeze. He usually traded fresh fish for anything he needed but the fish were running dry after spawning season and he could barely find enough to fuel his growth, let alone find extra to trade away. He found himself in front of a shop with its windows blown out and the door hanging off the hinges. The glass had long since been cleaned up and the once-yellow door had paint flaking off in noticeable chunks all across it. Vesper wrinkled his nose but decided to take the plunge in the name of finding something to build a more permanent nest.

He crept into the store, looking around for signs of any grumpy residents but the place was eerily quiet. With no signs of life he raised his head and took a confident step forward. The floor gave way under him with a sudden, agonising creak. He flailed to grip onto something but nothing came to him and he fell straight through, only meeting wooden beams with his tail and snout on his way down. The floor rushed to meet him, its solid impact feeling like a punch square in the chest. He lay there breathing heavily for a while, completely winded and unable to move from the shock. He raised himself up slowly, waiting for the inevitable moment where some part of his body fell off but it never came. Instead, as he tried to get to his feet the entire muscle along his leg lit up with agony and sent him crashing back down onto his chest. He looked back reluctantly and saw something long, tubular and metal rammed through his thigh and attached to the floor. It stuck straight up, covered in his blood and dripping in a way that made his heart sink with dread. With the gravity of his situation setting in, his body began to shake and his breathing became ragged. He was panicking, stuck slowly bleeding to death at the bottom of a hole somewhere in the winding labyrinth of the Dead City. He wondered how long it would take for his body to be found, if it would be found by concerned members of the community or scavengers thanking their lucky stars for an easy meal. He hoped he was at least fresh enough to provide a nutritious snack for someone in need. At this thought he shut his eyes as tears began to leak out and soak his cheek feathers. He was so young! He would never get to experience-

"Oh for goodness sake, lad." A gruff voice came from above him. Vesper's head shot up to see the beady eyes of the Craftmaster staring down at him, his little paws on his hips and disappointment in his posture. "Don't move, I'll be down soon." The raccoon nimbly climbed down a broken beam and landed softly near Vesper's head. He took a moment to comfortingly pat the Sucho's snout before he headed down to the leg to assess the damage. 

"Is it bad?" Vesper whimpered.

"It could've been worse," the raccoon replied tersely, "Looks to be a clean through-and-through. We just need to lift you straight up and you'll slide right back off it. Did you hear anything crack when you landed?" Vesper shook his head. "Then you'll be fine, take your time." The Craftsmaster vanished into the dark and returned with a length of rope. He took off to the upper floor and only came back down after a series of loud clangs and louder curses. He still had one end of the rope in his grasp and used it to wrap around Vesper's thigh, forming a sling either side of the puncture. "I'll go up and when I say now, you pull up, alright?" Vesper made a weak sound of assent before the old raccoon scurried back up the beam. He braced himself for the movement but nothing could have prepared him for the pain that came when the Craftsmaster gave the signal.

He felt every bump and divot scrape past his muscle as he tried to match the pace of the winch and haul himself upwards. With a final, frantic tug he pulled his leg free and collapsed, cradling the injured limb and trying not to cry out in pain. He stayed on the floor until the Craftsmaster came back down to him. 

“No need to be upset,” he said awkwardly. “We’ll get a bandage for this and you’ll be right as rain.” Vesper tried not to sniffle as he pulled himself upright, favouring the injured leg. The Craftsmaster’s ramblings fell into the background as the young Suchomimus vowed to never scavenge for materials himself again.