[Trade] A Wide Cast Net

Mantell and Guerilla led Kaiwi out through the halls of the buildings until they finally stepped out into the artificial sunlight. They were in the middle of the large clearing the Court of Atlantis called home. The treeline of the lush jungle was still visible but the threat of the vicious plants was far enough away that Kaiwi could smooth his prickling feathers. He really didn't enjoy the thought of making his way back through the jungle to get home, as much as he wanted to get back to the Dead City he figured he would be safer by staying in his prison cell. 

"A left here, prisoner," Guerilla said sharply and the raptor obediently turned left to go behind the building. To his surprise, he saw a river, with a dock built across it and fishing nets hung across its width.

"Afternoon, boys," a voice came from the other side of the river. A dappled grey Iguanodon was standing over the water, looking down at the nets dragging through the current.

"Afternoon, Arabella," Mantell greeted. They marched Kaiwi to the dock and Arabella walked over to meet them.

"Is this another little helper for me?" she asked sweetly and Mantell scoffed.

"Hardly, he's a trespasser that's working his way back into the good graces of the court," he said sharply, scowling down at his prisoner. 

"Ahhh, a welcome set of hands all the same," Arabella assured the raptor. "I assume you two will be looming over this poor creature acting like guard puppies?" she asked teasingly, making Mantell grumble and Guerilla blush. "Come along then," she said to all three of them. 

Kaiwi was led to the centre of the dock, where a large wheel crank sat pride of place. It was attached to a large wooden crane, the rope dangling into the river where it ended with the wide nets he had spotted earlier. 

"I'm supposed to lift the nets?" he asked curiously. Mantell walked behind him to stand at the other end of the dock, whereas Guerilla stayed where he was on solid ground. They were really taking this guard duty seriously. 

"Not on your own, of course," Arabella said, "Any moment now, my other helpers will be back."

"We are back already," a deep voice boomed from under the dock. Kaiwi peeked through the cracks of the wood and saw the bright green head of a Suchomimus glaring back up at him. 

Oswald was a well-built, flashy and powerful Sucho, the peak of his health and uncowed by anyone or anything. And yet here he was, performing manual labour because a squat little Atopo had managed to volunteer them both for it.

"It's going to be fun, Oswald," Pancake had insisted, "There's never any harm in helping folk!" Oswald would care to disagree, there were several things he could dedicate his time to instead of performing charity work for these deformed Shunosauruses. He heard Pancake's little voice correct 'Iguanodon' in his head but he shrugged it off. Ideally, he'd be out of this dome hell soon and back to the rivers on the surface.

Pancake, by contrast, was ecstatic to be of use. The Iguanodons were intimidating and powerful, but so far they had been kind and the Atopo wanted to repay that kindness the best way she could, by getting in the water. Despite not being a piscivore herself, she had spent enough time around Oswald to make an adept swimmer and herder of fish. When Arabella had asked for a helping hand at the docks, she had seized the opportunity. Even with all his huffing and puffing, Oswald had come with her and they were now both sitting in the river and awaiting further instructions. 

"There you are!" Arabella said brightly, "Now, I'd like you to swim upriver to the falls and herd back any fish you can find. The little ‘uns will slip right through the net and the big ones will feed both our dear Oviraptors and our... influx of guests." Pancake nodded enthusiastically and turned tail to swim upstream. Oswald turned slowly and sank down into the water, letting his tail lazily propel him on.

"And what do you want me to do?" Kaiwi asked, genuinely curious.

"You'll be staying here and learning to work the nets with me," Arabella informed him, "You'll need to be quick when they return with the fish so we'd best practice now." The raptor looked to both of the Iguanodon guards who pointedly avoided looking back at him. Looked like he was alone on this one, despite weighing as much as a wet feather compared to them.

"Alright then, show me the ropes," he sighed.

Pancake swam as fast as her little legs could take her. Atopos weren't built for speed, especially pushing against a current instead of riding one along the open ocean. Oswald was keeping up fairly easily without any real effort, once the river got a little deeper and he didn't have to walk along the bottom. The sound of the waterfall was growing closer, signalling the end of their swim. He certainly hoped it did anyway, that overgrown Parasaur was out of her mind if she thought he'd salmon jump his way up to look for her fish. Pancake couldn't get very close to the falls with the pressure of the water, so she tread water in the lake that formed at the base while she waited for Oswald to catch up.

"We'll sweep the lake, take one side each," she shouted over the rushing water. Oswald grumbled performatively but, realising she couldn't hear him complain, he just nodded and split off along the right hand side of the lake. He came as close as he dared to the falls and ducked underwater to scope out the fish situation. He could see a few schools swimming around and began to herd them towards the mouth of the lake.  Going back and forward along the lake, trying to scoop up whatever fish he found in his wake, he could see the pale form of Pancake through the water doing the same along the other edge of the lake. When they reunited, they were pushing swarming schools into the mouth of the river. Some began to try and double back to depths of the lake but Oswald swung his tail and sent them fleeing into the river instead. Pancake caught his eye and gave him a smile with her wide mouth before pursuing the shoals downriver. He huffed, sending bubbles rising to the surface. With the river providing a natural funnel, it was easy to push the fish through the thick river grasses and send them exactly where they wanted them. Pancake snatched a mouthful of the grass as she swam by and giggled to herself about how successful their mission had been.

"BRACE YOURSELF!" Arabella shouted suddenly, startling Kaiwi back to reality. He hurried to the crank and held fast to the handle. Only then did he look behind and see the approaching swarm. He gulped at the wall of jumping and flailing fish being pushed down the river by the Sucho and Atopo pair. He leaned back, ready to brace himself against the wood, digging his claws into it as deep as he dared. Arabella was poised at the crane, holding it steady in case the sheer weight caused it to snap. Even Mantell and Guerilla were standing at the ready, clearly grasping how much the helpers had overachieved. 

When the first wave of fish hit the nets, the dock groaned under the weight. Kaiwi started cranking the level immediately, not wanting the net to get too full. Arabella nodded at him as she continued to hold firm to the apparatus. When the second wave hit, Guerilla hurried to the wooden beam too and stopped it from being pulled free from the dock entirely. Kaiwi was making barely any progress with lifting the nets and felt a large pair of hoof-like paws clamp over his claws and begin to turn the lever with him. He knew it was Mantell from the spikes alone, ducking back to avoid them jabbing at him. Between the two of them, the net was raised from the water with a heavy groan, every part of the mechanism strained to its absolute limit. The net tightened full as it was drawn up, leaving a bulging bounty wriggling behind the ropes. Kaiwi flopped onto the dock, breathing heavily and soaked from the splashing current. Mantell couldn't catch his breath long enough to scold him and simply joined him on the dock. Oswald and Pancake emerged from under the water when the hordes finally passed. 

"How did we do?" Pancake asked sweetly, still chewing on a mouthful of river grass.