Scam

A large green shape emerged from the mist, walking carefully on hoven feet while careful not to crush the strange plants under her feet. 

Mintee lowered her beak to the ground, gently sniffing at a strange, sweet smelling plant only to recoil back as it snapped at her face like a cornered rat. Angrily the parasaur smashed her hoof down on it, before looking back at the ground. Large footprints, like a chickens but much larger in size. An oviraptor- the cause of these mysterious plants cropping up across the islands. Mintee was here for answers.

Behind her emerged another parasaur from the mist, this one bright red and pink where Mintee was a soft green. Messy feathers that resembled caked blood shook as Mary raised onto her back legs. A loud, chilling call echoed across the island as the parasaur called. Mintee joined into the call, their vocalizations sinking into the mist as they waited for a response.

After several moments, another call echoed back. This was far from the call of another parasaur- this call was much more high pitched and almost nastily, comparable to a bleat.

Mary and Mintee hummed lowly to each other as they began to move again, following the direction of the prints and the responding voice. Together they weaved through the new plant growth, careful to avoid losing any of their feathers. Finally, the patch of exotic foliage came to an end, and a figure was waiting for them.

Much smaller than them was a gold and black figure, a strong beak and domed head revealing it as a pachycephalosaurus, instead of one of the many small carnivores. 

Hornet nodded to Mintee and Mary as they approached- it had been her call that had summoned them all together. Hornet was swift and fleet footed, an excellent tracker. And she certainly proved her worth as she nodded at the scattered footprints at her feet- oviraptor prints, extremely fresh. They could only be an hour old, maybe less.

Mintee and let out a low sound, gently tapping her beak against Hornet’s back. Mary was much less generous in her praise, but even she let out an appreciative sound before taking off to follow the prints.

Soon, a fourth figure came into the view in the fog, scraping at the ground. Hornet was quick to spring into action, quickly darting forward and coming up on its other side- blocking off escape.

The grey oviraptor, Sagittarius, panicked, backing up as its crest of feathers flared up in alarm. Bright markings of red and yellow covered its face, and confused eyes blinked at Horney. Aside from the initial dash, she showed no signs of aggression.

The oviraptor turned to see the two parasaurs as they approached, Mary leading the way. A deep, rumbling voice broke out as she stopped in front of the terrified oviraptor.

“Peace, strange one. We bring no harm. We merely wish to ask you for information about these plants plaguing our island.” Her voice was deep and clear, almost seeming to shake the ground. Mary observed the oviraptor curiously. If not for the fact he was an entirely new species, the strange paint over his feathers gave it away- the old parasaur had never seen another creature with anything like it before.

Sagittarius still seemed highly suspicious of them, crest flaring up and down as he took them in. Despite the hostile nature, Hornet could tell there was a hint of curiosity behind the fear. The oviraptor was curious in what they were saying, or maybe just in meeting them- but not ready to talk just yet.

Hornet moved close to Mintee as they watched Mary try and fail to coax the oviraptor into speaking, her feathers visibly raising as she became more and more frustrated. “Maybe you can try and find a bribe?” Hornet murmured, eyes flicking back and forth between the two parasaurs. “I dont think its going to talk without some kind of coaxing or proof that we mean it no harm. I could go find something, but I'm the only one that can catch it if it runs.”

Mintee sighed before nodding, quietly walking away from the group and heading into some kind of small grove right near where the oviraptor had been planting seeds. There seemed to be none of the invading plants yet, and for that Mintee was glad- she knew from experience they tasted bad and some would even make anything that ate it sick. 

Rising onto her hind legs, Mintee sized the area up. Disturbed dirt meant there might have been some kind of root nearby, but a tough root was hardly a good treat. Instead, her eyes went up to the branches of a tall tree. Some kind of soft fruit clung to the trees, the kind that would bruise when it fell to the ground. That would do.

Mintee gently grabbed a branch in her mouth, biting as hard as she could. It was not long before it broke, and she turned away with a branch in her beak. Several pieces of fruit were attached- if that was not a worthy bribe, she did not know what was.

Making her way back to the group was slow going- Mintee did not want to risk dropping any fruit. She was unsurprised to see that no progress had been made by the time she got back- Mary and Hornet had swapped positions, and the pachycephalosaurus was doing their best to stall Sagittarius. Her eyes brightened as she spotted Mintee. “How about this?” Hornet spoke loudly. “We give you some of these delicious fruits, and you answer our questions?” 

The oviraptor seemed to think on it for a moment, before responding with what seemed to be a positive sounding chirp. Mintee slowly lowered the branch as the oviraptor approached and started eating, before freezing. “Wait…” she looked towards Hornet and Mintee. “Do… do we even know if it can speak to us?” 

They in fact, did not know. And the oviraptor wasn't about to correct them.