[Trade] Mischief Manhandled

Themis was on a mission, a mission for Lucent, which granted it her full attention. Her brave leader had set off on his own recon, telling her to visit somewhere else to gather information on her own. Though she was loath to be parted from him she took this order with grave seriousness and had immediately broken out into a run from their pack's home. Her destination was the lava fields of Isla Pera, where tunnels had been filled with scattered seeds and swarming Oviraptors. She was glad of the break from the midday sun as she ducked into the winding tunnels in pursuit of her target. She didn't have a specific target in mind, just any Oviraptor unlucky enough to encounter her first. Lucent was paranoid about the sudden emergence of the raptors from seemingly nowhere and had suspicions about their tenacity in spreading seeds across the island. Themis agreed, and although she had never been to Isla Kela she had heard murmurs among the Tapejara that the same thing was happening over there. While her priority was always to follow Lucent, she was satisfying her own curiosity by seeking out these newcomers and asking a few pertinent questions.

She kept a rapid pace as she wove through the tunnels, not wanting to slow down until she had found a raptor to sink her claws into. Unexpectedly, she managed to find two of them.

A little striped brown Utah was circling a rather unimpressed looking Oviraptor. She stood towering over the hatchling but her size was dwarfed next to Themis. She lacked the feathers common with her kind, giving her brown barred body an unusual gangliness that betrayed the swiftness and precision of an Oviraptor.  Her war paint was a bright teal, creating leaf patterns on her crest and covering half the spikes that lined her neck. With her attention on the irritating baby raptor, Themis was able to get within striking distance before her panicked orange eyes locked onto her. The Ovi turned to flee but the Utah was already upon her, tackling her to the floor and using her sickle claw on her neck to pin her down. The Ovi struggled in her grip, trying to find purchase on the stone floor before going limp, like she was waiting for death.
"Oh, is that all?" Themis purred, "I thought your kind had more fight in them?"

"Wait!" the young Utah chirped, "Don't eat her yet!" He scrambled to stand next to the Ovi's head and put his small clawed hands on her face.

"Not yet, little man," Themis said coolly, not appreciating his interruption. "I have a few questions for our mutual friend here." His face lit up and his teeth flashed in an excitable grin.

"Yes! Me too! She's gotta know where all these plants are coming from, all the Ovis have seed pouches with 'em!" he crowed. All of them? This little raptor was either exaggerating or he had been doing some reconnaissance of his own.

"What's your name, little one?" Themis asked casually, keeping the pressure on the other dinosaur's neck as she addressed her own kin.

"I'm Tiramisu," the raptor said proudly, "I've been watching these guys for weeks!" Weeks? Probably the kid's entire lifespan, Themis thought to herself.

"So have I, and it's made me quite curious," she turned an open mouth towards the pinned Oviraptor, who flinched as much as she was able. Themis leaned in, letting her claw sink a little deeper into the Ovi's neck. "I was wondering the same thing, what are you doing with all of these plants?"

"Yeah, birdy! You'll have to tell her or she'll kill ya!" Tiramisu said, hopping from one foot to the other. The Oviraptor glanced at the enthusiastic hatchling before Themis redirected her attention with a little more pressure from her talons.
"Look at me, not him," she said in a stern voice. She felt the Oviraptor swallow under her grip and fought back a victorious grin.

"We," the Oviraptor croaked before coughing, making Themis ease up just a little to allow her to speak. "We're planting the seeds because we must, we have been told and it is our most solemn duty."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Tiramisu said, kicking a pebble in frustration. The older Utah had to agree, it was a bit of a non-answer. She leaned in again, putting her hands on the raptor's heaving sides to further trap her on the floor.

"Who is telling you to plant these seeds? And for what purpose, answer me!" she allowed her voice to rise in fury at the end, hoping a show of anger would be more convincing. The Oviraptor whimpered and shut her eyes, bracing for the inevitable.

"I cannot tell you, it is beyond me," she answered, her voice quavering. Themis withdrew a little, tilting her head in confusion.

"You're not allowed to tell us?" Tiramisu asked, equally befuddled.

"I cannot!" the Oviraptor wailed. She didn't elaborate beyond that and Themis exchanged a look with the hatchling. Could they extract any more information from such a distressed and useless creature? The older Utah leaned back slightly.

"Listen, there must be something you-" She was interrupted by the Oviraptor seizing her opportunity and rising from the ground with a shriek and flapping of limbs. She struck Themis in the chest with a kick and left the winded Utah in the dust as she bolted down the tunnels. Themis hunched over, wheezing as she cursed her carelessness and the Oviraptor for deceiving her.

"Are you okay, lady?" the little hatchling asked. She barely refrained from biting his head clean off and swiped at him instead.

"Shut it," she managed to growl past her aching ribs. He looked hurt even though she had missed him. She realised with a start that he was holding something. He caught her looking at his claws and offered up the pouch in her direction.

"She dropped her pouch," he said helpfully as Themis took it gently from him with a single claw. The pouch's straps were leather with a cloth grip of some kind, deftly stitched to the leather pouch itself with the craftsmanship of a certain  raccoon, or perhaps... The older raptor's mind was ablaze with the possibilities, turning the pouch over and over in her grip to try and find more clues. If not made by the raccoon or something similar, could this be man-made? Tiramisu watched her closely as she made her silent observations, like he was trying to glean anything from just watching her. She eventually hooked the strap over her forelimb and turned to leave the tunnels. "Hey! We can go find more together, if that's what you're gonna do!" Tiramisu protested, trying to follow her out. Themis' feathery tail swiped him off his feet and sent him into the stone wall, dazed and unable to rise to keep up with her.

"That's my plan, but I don't need some pest slowing me down," she snarled. Without another word, she ran from the cave, the pouch bouncing against her chest. She must return to Lucent with everything she had found out so far, he would be so pleased with her.