Oder

Something was wrong across the islands. Everyone knew it- the birds, the insects, the dinosaurs. So much disaster had already struck these islands, from volcanoes to humans to the havoc of dinosaurs being released and the consequences that had come from that.Yet again something was stirring, disturbing an already unnatural order and throwing it into yet more chaos. 

Everyone knew something was wrong, yet no one knew what it was- or no one was willing to come forward with information. Strange tracks had been spotted across the island, and mysterious plants close behind. Many creatures had taken it among themselves to go out and search for answers, an uneasy truce called between enemies in the fear of something greater.

A pack rarely seen outside of the winter months was one of the ones that had taken the warning seriously, a pack of albertosaurus who were nicknamed the snow stalkers. Famous for their ravenous rampage each winter, they appeared with the first snows and vanished as the skys cleared. But now they were searching across the island in broad sunlight, using one of the best senses of smell across the island to do their part in this important task.

Boreal led the way, his eyes narrowed as he scented the air. The summer air irritated his nostrils, causing him to sneeze and shake his head with a soft growl. He was far from here of his own desire- someone else had pushed and prodded him into doing the right thing until he agreed. 

By his side walked Glory, the one who had done the convincing. Her eyes were sharp as they scanned the horizon, giving no complaints unlike her mate. Glory had always been the more observant of the two, and was the one who had argued that it was their duty to help out during this time. 

Lagging a ways behind them was Flurry, their young daughter. The yearling was all leg, tottling around with extremely quick steps as she bounced from interesting object to dangerous object. The yearling had never been allowed this far away from their thickly forested territory, and she was making the most of it. 

“Flurry!” Glory called out for the fifth time, catching the attention of her daughter just in time to stop her approach to some kind of clearly unstable cave. “Keep close.” The hatchling signed, veering close again but was gone again minutes later as something else caught her attention. 

“Why did we even bring her?” Boreal sighed, but answered his own question. “Because we can’t trust her to not walk into a bear's den, yeah.” Shaking out his head, the albertosaurus groaned and took another sniff of the air. So many different scents, both animal and plants, filled the air that it made his head dizzy. While something was clearly not right, it was almost impossible to pick out one individual scent against the many that filled the air. Growling, Boreal gave up. “We should have never left the forest.” He grumbled.

Only to yelp as sharp teeth closed themselves over his tail. Yanking himself free, Boreal turned to the harsh glare of Glory. “Stop it with that.” She hissed, already short temper shorter by the constant whining of her mate. “You know we need to do this. I know you want to go back to our normal lives of hiding in a forest for most of the year, but if we dont do this that may not be an option. Do you really want that for us? For Flurry…?” It was then Glory realized that things had been too silent for too long.

The two albertosaurus raised their heads, looking around wildly, but Flurry was gone. “Flurry!” Boreal roared, joined soon after by Glory. There was silence for a while, then an answering roar in the distance- along with an unfamiliar call. No words exchanged, the two took off running- fear for their daughter was the only thing on their minds.

However, when the finally came into view of their daughter, the result was not what they expected. “Mom! Dad!” Flurry greeted them, standing and nosing at some kind of… odd creature? “I found a friend!” 

Boreal and Glory paused, confused as they stared down at Flurry’s new… friend. It was a dinosaur, clearly, but never one that they did not recognize. Resembling a large turkey with a curved crest, the grey creature quivered in fear as Flurry poked at it with her nose, attempting to entice the terrified creature to play.

“Flurry… What?” Was all Boreal could say as he looked down at the odd sight in front of him. The grey dinosaur was giving him a pleading look, and Boreal decided to show mercy. It was no threat. “Why don't you let your new friend up? They look scared.” 

With a dramatic whine the yearling backed up, allowing the grey dinosaur to shakily pull themselves to their feet. With a clearer view, Glory had a realization. “...You look like the shopkeeper… are you an oviraptor?” Boreal inhaled as he realized that was true- and one sniff revealed the unknown scent was all over the oviraptor. They had found their culprit- or at least one part of the mystery.

“Who are you?” Boreal almost bared his teeth at the strange oviraptor, only stopped by the thought the poor creature looked so panicked it might pass out. Still, it remained stubbornly silent.

Suddenly Flurry appeared from wherever she had vanished off from, something clamped in her mouth. “Hwrhe!” With an unintelligible sound she spat out what had been carried in her mouth… a dead fish. Where had she found that? “I'm sorry if I scared you.” The hatchling turned to the oviraptor with big, sad eyes as she nosed the fish closer. “I brought you this fish to apologize! So, can we be friends? Whats your name?”

Slowly, cautiously, the grey oviraptor took the fish into its freakishly long hands. It was quite a large fish for such a small thing, but it was still gone within seconds. Hungry, weren't they?

It took another moment for the oviraptor to look out, still chewing on fish bones, but when they did they seemed much more relaxed. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft, cracking from what seemed to be disuse. “I am Pokie- what was that you just gave me? It was delicious, I have never had anything like it before!”

As Flurry sprung into action, explaining all about fish and how good she was at catching them and how some were big enough to swallow oviraptors whole, Glory snuck a glance at Boreal. She saw her worries reflected in him- where did Pokie come from? How did she not know what a fish was? Something smelled sour, and it wasn't just the unknown oder coming off the omnivore. 

At least Flurry had somehow gotten them to open up and somehow earned its trust- if there was a time to ask questions, it was now. Clearing his throat, Boreal stepped forward. Time to get some answers.