These Kids Followed Me Home They're Going To Try And Give You Fruit I Hope That's Okay

The arch was buzzing with activity by the time the strange pack reached it. Larry had been checking over his shoulder for hours to ensure his little proteges were still following and he could feel his shoulders lumping with relief as the other Oviraptors came into view. A brightly coloured male was standing on the outskirts and sorting seeds into bags when he perked up and noticed the approaching dinosaurs.

"Larry! You're late, my friend," Paradise greeted warmly, startlingly when the three Utahraptors revealed themselves from the long grass, "And you've brought some friends I see! Welcome, young ones." His friendly tone had the three raptors at ease immediately, and the two girls stepped forward, fruit still in their grasp.

"We brought you these," Thistle explained, lifting the dark red fruit up for Paradise's inspection.

"How kind!" he exclaimed, "Come along, we'll share these out between the rest of the group, they'll be very grateful," he assured them. The three youngsters exchanged glances but they followed Paradise willingly, though Tiramisu preferred to stay close to Larry as they walked towards the group.

"Larry! We were worried about you," a feathery grey-headed Oviraptor called from the upper levels of the arch.

"No need to worry," Larry called back, "Just recruited some little friends along the way who insisted on finding dinner for me." The other Ovi chuckled as he peered down at the raptor juvies.

"Sweet kids, make sure they get a good spot at the watering hole," he shouted. 

"Will do, Tiainen," Larry called back. He looked down at the raptors, suddenly self-conscious about his volume but they were just regarding him curiously. "That's Tiainen, an old friend of mine," he explained, "actually, everyone here is a friend of mine, which means they're friends of yours too."

"Is that how that works?" Tiramisu asked, his usual skepticism emerging.

"It is around here," he assured him. "We all look out for each other here, that's just how it works."

"Did you all come from the same nest?" Foxglove asked curiously, looking around at all of the different coloured and feathered Oviraptors milling about. 

"Not from the same nest, no," Larry answered slowly, "We come from the same place but most of us are not related, we simply choose to travel and work together."

"Like us," Thistle chirped, gesturing at herself and her two packmates.

"Exactly!" Larry confirmed, relieved to be able to steer the conversation away from his origins, "You aren't family, but you're a pack and you chose that life together." The three raptors nodded, seemingly understanding how the Oviraptors operated now.

"It must take a lot to feed everyone," Foxglove noted, looking down at the fruit in her claws. "It's hard for us sometimes to find food, how do you find enough to feed everyone here?"

"We don't always travel together," Paradise interjected, "We can split off into smaller groups and reunite after a time. Some of us, like Larry, even travel alone."

"He doesn't travel alone anymore," Tiramisu joked, flashing his sharp teeth in a cheeky grin. 

"Certainly not," Paradise laughed, "He seems to have found quite the firm friends in you, you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like," he offered. 

"We'll think about it," Thistle responded coolly, not wanting to seem too eager to join up with strangers. The brightly coloured Ovi simply nodded graciously and continued leading them to the water hole. A large gathering of Oviraptors were there, some drinking but most of them were chatting, talking loudly and expressive with their heads and arms moving everywhere. The Utahraptors instinctively made themselves smaller as they pushed through the crowd behind Paradise until they reached the water's edge. They could hear more of the Ovis greeting Larry, welcoming him back and either expressing concern or teasing him about his long absence. Foxglove felt a pang of guilt, they had been the ones keeping him away from home for so long, he probably would have made it back much faster without them. The dark green fruit in her claws was beginning to feel warm and mushy in her grip and she felt the sudden urge to throw it hard into the water. Instead, she turned to the closest Oviraptor, a female, bald and quilled just like Larry and thrust the fruit into her chest.

"This is for you," Foxglove said roughly, "You can share it if you want." 

"Oh, how sweet," the Ovi stammered. Her scarred arms rose to take the fruit from the pale pink raptor and she held it safely in the crook of her elbow. Foxglove watched her, eyes caught by the spiralling leafy patterns in green that decorated her neck. They were scratchy and uneven, painted instead of natural markings. A lot of these Oviraptors had similar paint, different colours and shapes but they seemed to be a way of recognising each other, judging by how Larry's eyes flit to the paint before making eye contact and greeting her.

"Lahna! You've met my friend Foxglove then?" he asked, placing a protective claw on the little raptor's head. Foxglove wanted to shake his off, but the parental action gave her a strange feeling of comfort so she allowed his hand to stay where it was.

"Indeed, these three are yours then?" Lahna asked, breaking the fruit in half and taking a bite from her left hand. SHe offered the half in her right to Larry who politely refused.

"I suppose you could say that," he said shyly. 

"They seem to be attached to him pretty thoroughly," Paradise chimed in, "Are you alright if I leave you to it, Larry?"

"We'll be fine, thank you, friend," Larry thanked him sincerely before turning back to Lahna, "Has much changed since I left." Lahna's expression darkened and she caught Paradise's eye before he left. The other Ovi looked down at the young raptors and nodded purposefully. Lahan sighed and looked back at Larry.

"They found Atlantis, the surface dwellers," she said, clarifying with the latter half. Larry looked startled, nearly stumbling back into the water. "They retraced our steps somehow, they've found the Europos, the dome, all of Atlantis, including the plants."

"And now what?" Larry asked anxiously, not seeing the worried and curious looks from his companions, "What are they doing down there?"

"Exactly what we feared," Lahna said grimly, "They're killing the plants, fighting and bribing our stone knights, digging deeper into things they have no right interfering with." Her voice grew louder as she spoke, making the Utahraptors cower under Larry's body. Larry was still stunned, but he was still present enough to try and comfort the youngsters, crouching down to cover them all. 

"It's alright, it's just Oviraptor business," he placated them in a hushed voice, addressing Lahna in a louder tone, "Lahna, you're frightening the children."

"Maybe they should be frightened," she snapped, throwing the fruit to the ground, "They'll reap what their elders have sown, interfering in our sacred work."  

"Alright, get something to drink, kids," he said sharply. The raptors scattered obedient;y to the water, pretending to be incredibly thirsty to avoid the conflict. "Lahna, don't assume the worst," he scolded, "We could never keep it hidden forever." Lahna drooped in defeat, her eyes cast downwards.

"I just thought we had more time," she said helplessly. 

"We still do have time," Larry said cheerfully, "these children have shown me that there's hope here, there's kindness and uncorrupted souls that would be willing to help." He gestured to the raptors and Lahan could see Thistle insistently pushing her fruit offering into Tiainen's hands, the older male having descended for a drink and finding himself surrounded by chirping Utahraptors. Tiramisu emerged from ducking his head underwater and thrust the pondweed he had found towards Tiainen too. The Oviraptor looked over helplessly at Lahna and Larry, the latter of which chuckled and waded through the shallows to reach the Utahraptors.

"You've got some real sweet kiddos here, Lar," Tiainen said, an anxious edge to his voice.

"Thanks, I like to call them aggressively charitable," Larry laughed. "Alright, gang, I think we should find you guys a spot for the night."

"But-" Thistle didn't continue out loud, just wiggled the dragonfruit in her claws helplessly at the older Oviraptor.

"I know, I'm sure Tiainen will be happy to take it," Larry assured her, looking over the top of her head to look knowingly at his friend.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to have some," Tiainen said stiffly. He took the very beaten up fruit and the dripping pondweed into his arms, letting both the juice and water soak his feathers and turn them into a sticky mess. "Thank you so much, you really didn't have to..."

"You're very welcome," Foxglove replied cheerfully. She spun around to face Larry. "We can go find a bed now."

"I'm not tired, but we should get ready before it gets dark," Tiramisu agreed, "Does everyone sleep in a big pile or on their own?"

"We have to sleep in a group," Thistle interrupted, "That's what Utahraptors do, so we have to do that." The other two nodded solemnly, their eyes wide at the thought of sleeping alone.

"That's fine, we all just sort of pick a place and then decide if we want to be in a group or on our own," Larry explained, "You can all stay together."

"And you'll stay with us?" Foxglove asked, she narrowed her eyes like she was about to interrogate him.

"If you want," Larry conceded, thinking longingly of his solitary nest under the arch. 

"You're in the pack now, you have to sleep in the same place for safety," Tiramisu elaborated, like it was obvious and Larry should clearly know that already.

"We can find more food to give the others tomorrow, we did a lot today," Thistle said authoritatively and the others hummed their assent. 

"They didn't seem very eager about the fruit," Tiramisu pointed out and Larry tried to not let the relief show visibly.

"Then we try hunting instead," Foxglove decided.

"Definitely, even Larry liked the pig more than any other thing we got him, we need to find a bigger pig," Tiramisu said. They descended into planning for their hunt tomorrow as Larry tiredly led them to a free sheltered patch of grass near the arch.