Invasive [TRADE with Spyre]

The Oviraptor had relented eventually and revealed himself to be quite verbose. The bribe had loosened his tongue somewhat but the group of herbivores weren't getting answers they wanted. He danced around the subject of the plants with the practiced ease of a duplicitous clan leader. Eventually, the misty forest began to thin out and the wide open grasslands stretched out before them. Sagittarius took a deep breath in the clear night air before gesturing at the others to follow him. Their conversation, as one-sided as it had been, had come to a halt, allowing the three herbivores to exchange glances and silently confer. Mintee and Hornet watched Mary's face attentively, her pensive expression barely shifting as something clearly ran through her mind. The older parasaur shook her head then, closing her eyes and sighing. It wasn't verbal but the idea was clear, they hadn't found out anything of value yet but Mary wasn't willing to give up just yet. At the very least Sagittarius was more comfortable with them now, he didn't flinch at every step they made and began to talk more freely. Mintee tried not to look overly invested whenever he turned to make eye contact but she was hanging on every word. He clearly didn't want to tell them anything but maybe he would slip up at some point. As they walked, Mintee shifted her mouth slightly to relieve the tension in her face. She was still carrying their branch of offerings and her jaw was beginning to ache from the strain. She was just about to ask Mary to please take the branch for a little while when Sagitarrius brought the group to a stop in the shadow of a rock formation that jutted noticeably from the red earth.

"Here we are, camp for the night," he said proudly. The others looked around, finding nothing but some scratches in the dirt.

"Here? Or is there a cave somewhere?" Hornet asked bluntly.

"Here, of course," the Oviraptor said patiently. We don't need much when we're on the move." He gently took the branch from Mintee's mouth and began to distribute the fruit around the group while tucking his own into the brown pouch around his neck. Mintee stretched her jaw side to side and arched her stiff neck before speaking up.

"Have you been travelling long? It must be exhausting," she sympathised.

"It could be, if we weren't doing such important work," Sagittarius said softly. His crest feathers flared again and his bright eyes darted over to the three expectant faces. He sighed in a resigned way to himself, looking down at the branch in his claws and the pouch he had placed his fruit into. "You've been kind to me, I'll show you why we're here." Hornet's mouth fell open and Mintee nudged her sharply to close it.

"We appreciate that, thank you for your trust," Mary said diplomatically, still wary of the raptor's actions. Sagittarius inclined his head at them and opened his pouch with a swift motion of his dextrous claws. The herbivores watched enviously as he unravelled the tie that bound it closed and dipped his claws inside. He pulled it out with a round, glossy brown seed pinched between two fingers and showed it to them.

"We, the Oviraptors, are sowers of seeds," he said, breathless, reverent. "We cultivate the new generation of plant life on the islands and we steward the world into a new age. Come, see." he gestured to the ground in front of him and began to dig. "You simply make a hole, about this size." He straightened up and placed a seed at Mary and Mintee's feet before returning to the hole he had dug in front of Hornet, who was watching him intently. Sagittarius was watching the parasaurs instead, enthusiastically signalling that they should dig a hole as well. With a few swift paws of her hooved feet, Mintee matched the size of his expertly excavated plot. He nodded, beaming widely at them all. "Now watch this, young one," he said to the pachycephalosaur in front of him. Her eyes lit up and she practically leaned over the Oviraptor to watch him drop the seed into the loose red soil. Hornet hopped from foot to foot watching the Oviraptor gently cover the seed and pat the soil down with his clawed hand.

"Now, we take a little water," He took a cupped stone brimming with rainwater and wet the soil where the seed had been buried. "And that's it!" he proclaimed proudly. Hornet stopped hopping and watched the wet patch of dirt intently.

"When does it... grow?" she asked.

"Child, you cannot watch a plant grow," Mary scolded. She had covered her own seed and was patting the soil with her tail. "These things take time." Sagittarius watched, his eyes glittering, before he cleared his throat to interrupt.

"Well, you can't watch most of them grow," he said knowingly. He came over to pour water onto Mary's planting spot and when he stepped away she saw a brief gleam of green. Mary nearly sideswiped the Oviraptor in her haste to get closer. Mintee noticed the commotion and they both hurried over to where Hornet was staring at the ground. Right before their eyes, a tiny, spindly green stalk pushed up from the dirt and began to stretch towards the sky. Mintee looked up at the Oviraptor, her eyes enormous.

"What is this? What are these plants?" Mary demanded.

"They're little bundles of miracles," Sagittarius said dreamily. "They're the future of these islands and we are their stalwart guardians to protect them as they grow." Mintee thought back to the small plant she had crushed underfoot while gathering offerings for the Oviraptors. She suddenly felt apprehensive about the seed she had just helped to bury. 

“Are these different from normal plants, Sagittarius?” she asked carefully.

“They most certainly are,” he said proudly. “They are the bright and beautiful seeds given to us by our-” He stopped. His feathers rose again and he seemed to come back down to earth. “Ah, never mind all that for now, you’ll see it in time,” he reassured them. It was far from reassuring to the three dinosaurs before him, if anything it made them even more anxious about what was about to burst from the soil.