Subtle Help

The gates swung open wide, creaking and groaning and covered in plants but working. Mintee and Mary stepped back in shock, and Oboe let out a confused squawk at the sight that greeted them. A large, muscled herbivore stood on the other side of the gate, looking down at them with a harsh expression. The mysterious herbivore was one none of them had ever seen before. It was a hadrosaurus, similar to Mintee and Mary, but… different. Much bigger and more muscular, the long neck of this herbivore towered over even their long crests- its very head was nearly twice as long as theirs! Instead of a long horn, its head was flat with a hooked beak. Strong, powerful forelegs stomped at the ground in agitation, and Oboe eyed the sharp, hooked spike on the edge nervously. That did not look pleasant. 

The specific individual in front of them was extremely intimidating- dark in color, with a silverish underbelly and back. Scars littered his arms and face, adding to the fierce appearance. Stern dark eyes looked down on them. “So you're the imposters.” He huffed lowly, lowering onto his forelegs. Even quadruped, he was so much larger than them. “There had been rumors of two creatures who looked like us but yet not and their pet running around. It had caused much confusion. And now you have reached our gates. Just what are you?”

Oboe bristled, letting out a low curse at being called a pet. Mintee was quick to step forward, cutting off the tapejara before she could cause any issues. “We mean no issue!” Mintee walked forward, dipping her head. “We are parasaurolophus from the world above- Oboe is no pet, she is our traveling companion.” She was careful to not give too much detail- who knew how much they could trust these others? “We mean to harm- we have been sent down here to investigate where these new creatures and plants had come from. We apologize for any chaos our appearance caused.” It would be nice now if they apologized for any chaos they caused- but if they played their cards nicely, maybe they could work their way up to it.

Mary stepped forward next. “We have made an offering in an attempt to find ourselves within the court.” She bowed her own head, the red parasaur revealing the plant fronts draped over her back. “Leaf cups. We have heard that you were having a feast tonight, and we hoped that bringing these would help. Are you the court? We have never seen anything as large as you.” Oboe shuffled from her place on the nearby branches, but didn't move- smart move, as who knows what would find its way out of her beak.

That seemed to be both the right and wrong thing to say- the stranger puffed up, but grew more stony as Mary finished her sentence. “We are indeed the court.” He huffed, snorting. “The court is made of iguanodons, the largest creatures located in Atlantis. I am Guerilla- in charge of all the warriors. You mentioned a feast? We were planning to have one, but… an issue popped up.” At this he gritted his beak. “Strangers from outside Atlantis showed up. They destroyed several of our supplies, and have delayed the feast. Oh, and some scouts were injured. Were they with you?” At the end his voice turned dangerous again, and the iguanodon rose onto his hind legs.

“No! No!” Oboe squawked. “We came as a trio, we swear!” She hopped forward off the tree, landing between the two parasaurs. “We came all this way to meet you- but many others have as well. Some are, admittedly, less than pleased than what's happening at the surface. But” she continued quickly at the furious look from Guerillia- “we are not! We seek peace!”

The iguanadon paused for a moment, before raising his head to look over the leaves draped over the two parasaurus' backs. Mary and Mintee did their best to remain as still as possible as his intense gaze raked over them. “Hm… follow me.” The iguanadon instructed with a flick of his tail, turning around and entering Atlantis. The trio exchanged glances, before following.

The long abandoned human facility was long overgrown, but still beaming with dinosaur life. Oviraptors ran around, carrying armfuls of plants, while warriors sparred and worked on repairs. No other iguanadons were around- the court must be located somewhere in the building, then. As they passed, the Atlantis dinosaurs paused to stare at them. Some were skittish, some seemed furious, and others were… concerned? Mary filed away that for later.

Guerilla brought them to what might have been a large human shed, and now seemed to be a food storage area- multiple wood platforms were scattered across the arena, covered in strange exotic plants and fruits. There did seem to be a strangely low amount of them- likely from the attack.

“If you wish to be accepted to stay in Atlantis, you must perform tasks.” Guerilla began, grabbing the plants hanging off Mintee and Mary and swinging them onto the ground. “For your first task, you must sort all of these onto the pile. Maol-” at its name being called a small oviraptor nervously entered, grey roan covered in patches of white. Purple warpaint was sprawled across his side, shaped similar to leaves. Mintee wondered if paint eluded one's role here. “-will instruct you what to do. Should you complete the task, I shall return and we should discuss more.” With that parting message the huge herbivore shoved his way out, leaving the trio in silence.

Maol cleared his throat, stepping forward. “Here’s what you do.” The oviraptor murmured, avoiding looking at them directly and instead grabbing a plant in his claws. “Your goal is to remove the cup shape of the plant itself from the stem without tearing- the court will have your hide should they have leaky cups.” The oviraptor demonstrated, flawlessly producing the cup. “Afterwards, stack it here- gently.” The cup was placed on one of the empty wood platforms. 

Mary nodded, Mintee echoing it. Oboe looked uncertain, only to finally squeak in agreement with a nudge from Mary. The trio began work- it was hard when you were as big as Mary was, to be gentle. Her beak was made for tearing and eating plants, not keeping them whole! Mintee pressed herself against Mary, careful to help her. With their efforts combined, they were able to carefully produce a number of cups. 

A boastful squawk caught the pairs attention after some time- and they turned to see Maol fawning over Oboe, who had a number of perfectly sculpted cups at her feet. “Amzaing!” The oviraptor gasped, poking at one cup. It remained solid. “I have never seen such clean shapes from anything but another oviraptor.”

“It's all about beak control!” Oboe puffed her chest out, snapping her beak in demonstration. “Its just like catching fish! Except. Not at all.” She carefully moved some of the cups over to the platform, almost knocking some over in her surprise as the voice of Guerillia spoke up. “Finished?” 

Mintee stood, looking over in shock. They had indeed made their way through all of the leaf cups somehow… she was sure there were many more fonds. They couldn’t have done this well even with Oboes apparent skills… unless. Maol was carefully avoiding their gaze, but Mintee caught a small pile of leaves behind her, pushed out of sight of the iguanodon. “They finished, sire!” The oviraptor squeaked. “Did all of them themselves.” 

The iguanadon nodded, seemingly pleased. It was hard to tell. “Good. Come with me, you three. We will talk in the morning.” Oboe clambered onto Mintees back, and the two herbivores shared a glance as they left. It seemed they did have some allies here… but why?