A Olive Branch

The mission was not a new one, Mary knew as she led her small team across the rushing river. Water tugged and pulled at her feathers like sharp teeth, but she was far too large now to be pushed down by a relatively shallow river. 

Above her in the sky Oboe flapped, black and white wings giving her the ability to completely skip the challenge of making her way through the river. Even then the tapejara seemed to want to join Mary, quickly diving in and submerging into the water with a splash. A few seconds later she emerged, a small fish speared onto her beak. With a smug look she cawed lowly, making her way onto a small tree nearby to swallow her meal.

Behind Mary, a splashing sound caught her attention. Sloshing across the river was the third member of the trio, Mintee. The green parasaur snorted as she gingerly made her way over, shaking her feathers off repeatedly. Mary considered reminding her it would do no good as she was still halfway through the river, but thought better on it. The red parasaur pulled herself up onto the shore, nudging her hoof at the sand as she thought.

The trio was not here for no reason. There had been an… issue, to put it lightly, ever since spring had come around again. Instead of normal plants, an… unexpected surprise had been discovered. Strange flowers, sweet smalls hiding extremely toxic poison. Unusual plants that seemed a mix of plant and carnivore, snapping with snarling mouths and thorny fangs. Thrashing vines that lashed and pulled and wrapped. And the rumored cause of it all- mysterious dinosaurs, small and two legged. Rumors had varied wildly, but they all agreed on the same things; long, grasping claws that carried and held mysterious seeds, a curved beak that was cute but dangerous, and a rounded crest on top their head. Many had strange paint marks across their bodies as well. Another thing that stayed the same is their temperament- all ran away when approached, avoiding all attempts at contact. And that was why they were here today- to find any hint of these strange creatures, and attempt to gently get answers. Past results had shown promise when a bribe was offered. Speaking of…

Mintee finally pulled her her way to shore, letting out a low grumble. One of the main reasons she had taken so long to cross compared to Mary had to do with the large plant fronds draped across her back- wild corn, harvested from the abandoned human farmlands and now carried by her. The plan was to attempt to use the sweet fruit to woo the strange creature, offering it as a bribe in order to get them to give up needed information. And Mintee had drawn the short grass straw, so it was her job to carry them.

“Oboe!” Mary called, looking over to the tapejara who was still preening within the tree. “Have you found any tracks?” The black and white flyer shrugged her wings, fluttering down to land on Mary’s shoulder.

“I noticed a little something while you were walking your way through the river.” She smirked, before nodding at something that the two larger herbivores had missed. Curious, Mary thomped her way over. Pushing aside a brush, she spotted a clue- a pile of freshly disturbed dirt, and a few discarded feathers.

“Good job.” Mintee praised, before starting down the path that faint footprints head. Oboe cawed smugly, taking off of Mary’s shoulder and hitting the red parasaur with her wings. Mary winced, shaking her head as she quickly moved to grab the corn stalks before they slid off of Mintee’s. Seems like it was her job then.

Oboe flew ahead, vanishing into the forest as she followed the trail ahead of them. Mintee and Mary walked side by side, letting their feathers brush in silence as they walked. The untold tension lingered, only to be burst as Oboe let out a shriek from the distance. The two broke into a run, quickly arriving at the location of the call.

Oboe circled in the air above a small, gangly creature about half their size. White feathers coated their hide, pink markings splattered across. The noted beak and crest were present, as were the dirt stained claws. They seemed quite meek, ducking down as Oboe swooped above.

“Oboe!” Mintee called, scowling towards the flyer. With a loud sigh she circled back, landing on top of the parasaur's green back. Slowly Mintee nudged at the small dinosaur, pushing them back onto their feet. “Im Mintee.” She offered, letting out a low sound from her horn. “Mary is behind me- we’re parasaurs. I'm afraid I’ve never seen something like you before- just what are you?”

The white creature cautiously stood, looking back at Mintee and Oboe with suspicion. “...Snowdrop.” She murmured, swishing her tail slowly. “I'm an oviraptor.” She seemed reluctant to say anything more, instead slowly inching away and seemingly seconds away from running.

Thinking quickly, Mary dropped the corn onto the ground. Snowdrop hesitated, interest seemingly perked by the corn as she shuffled forward. “As an apology for Oboe there” the tapejara sent a heated glare “We can offer you some of this. Corn.” Carefully she nudged it forward, allowing it to roll towards the oviraptor.

Slowly the oviraptor moved, scooping the corn into her claws before scooting back again. Quickly she bit down on it, seemingly brightening up as she began to eat. After a moment the cob was almost bare, and she seemed much more friendly. Raising her head, she eyed Mary, stepping closer. After slowly looking the parasaur up and down, Snowdrop softly churred. “Thank you. It was… very tasty.”

Mary rumbled, pressing on. “It was the least we could do. May I ask, where did you come from? Ive never seen another like you.” She did her best to make her voice low and calming. 

Snowdrop looked at her claws for a moment, before shaking her head. “Welll…” She drew the word out. “We were sent from the sanctuary. They sent all of this in waves, told us to spread these seeds across the land. We came through a tunnel, water above us… we were so scared.” The oviraptor shook her head, before backing up. “I…I'm sorry.” Quickly she turned and bolted into the night.

Oboe sighed, annoyed. “That was a waste of time.” The tapejara fluttered back into the air. “Want me to go after her?”

Mary shook her head. “No.” She hummed, carefully thinking of the information they had been given. “We have a lead.” A sanctuary… water above… Where could this be leading them?