Toddlers At The Banquet

When Lego pushed her way through a thicket of plants and held it back for the raptor trio, they ducked under her tail in a hurry, not wanting to keep her long. In the rush, Thistle ran straight into what felt like a tree trunk, a warm, fluffy tree trunk. Her head shot up and kept going up until it was craned back to finally see the face of whoever or whatever she had walked into. A black and white dinosaur stood before her, four legs, towering like a Shuno would but with a shorter neck, shorter overall actually. The horizontal pupil of its small eye cast down towards her, towards Tiramisu and Thistle, and finally to land on Lego.

"What. Is the meaning of this intrusion?" it asked the Euoplo coldly.

"More visitors," Lego said cheerfully, though the way her crest flattened to her skull betrayed her nerves. "These little fellows are barely older than hatchlings, they have that youthful joy for exploration." The larger dinosaur stayed silent, still looking at her intently. "Um, they're harmless, and they've been adopted by the Oviraptors," Lego said finally, wincing like she felt bad about calling them harmless. The large dinosaur looked surprised, finally breaking his stone facade and showing emotion. He looked down at the raptors and Foxglove nodded.

"Larry found us! We're family!" she declared proudly. The large dinosaur shuffled his front feet and Thistle felt Tiramisu grab hold of her claw. She looked back at him and followed where his orange eyes were staring, down at the feet of the dinosaur, where two razor sharp claws stuck out from the side of his hands. The purple raptor froze at the sight, having visions of that spike driving clean through her chest in one swift motion. She squeezed Misu's hand back. The large dinosaur leaned down, nearly kneeling on his front legs to get a proper look at the trio. After an uncomfortably long pause, he grunted and rose to his feet again.

"Fine. You're dismissed, get back to work," he said sharply to Lego. With horror, the raptors watched their friendly guide nod and disappear back into the foliage. The black and white behemoth looked back at the raptors. "Come along then, you're just in time for the banquet." They exchanged nervous glances, wondering what kind of banquet they were being led into.

"Sir? Can I ask you something?" Thistle piped up, ignoring Misu's elbow jabbing her side trying to get her to shut up. "What are you?" The dinosaur looked at her blankly for a moment before realisation dawned across his face.

"You... haven't seen an Iguanadon before?" he asked.

"Definitely not," Foxglove chimed in.

"You eat meat?" Misu asked bluntly. The other two looked at him in horrified awe but the Iguanadon chuckled.

"No, we are- goodness me there really are none of us on the surface? Ah, excuse me, we are herbivorous," he explained, the laughter in his voice bringing a warmth to it that was lacking before. Something about the merriment in the deep timbre made the youngsters relax a little and they fell in line behind him as he walked into enormous monstera leaves blocking their path.

The leaves before them parted like doors and as the raptors walked through they could see each leaf being held on a long pole held by an Iguanadon.  They were standing upright instead of walking on all fours like their guide was, slightly hunched over but in a relatively comfortable stance. They looked at the raptors and drew their poles back like they were about to strike with them, but the black and white Iguanadon told them to stand down, that he was bringing guests to the banquet. The mood shifted instantly, their beaks mouths turned from scowls to smiles as each of the four said their greeting before returning to standing guard with the leaf doors. Tiramisu was still watching his surroundings carefully, they were surrounded on all sides and despite the change in demeanour the enormous herbivores were still intimidating. The three of them decided to stick close together, as if their fragile bodies could do anything against the court. Thistle took the lead as she often did, keeping the others close behind them, her chest puffed out with false confidence. She was determined to show how not-afraid she was, not wanting to show any weakness in front of these bizarre new creatures. They were larger than most Acros the pack had seen, aside from that one aberration that stalked the woods around the Dead City. They were still shorter than Shunosauruses but they seemed more solid somehow, like they were made of pure, tightly packed muscle. In the middle of this enormous clearing, centred around an overgrown stone building that reached above the canopy of the surrounding trees, there was a long table. 

"Ah, before we proceed, I have yet to learn your names," the crested Iguanadon rumbled.

"We've yet to learn yours too," Misu pointed out.

"Very true, I am Blackmist, a most trusted member of the court that serves our queen," he said proudly, his feathers fluffing out.

"Thistle, Foxglove," Misu said, pointing to each in turn, then jabbed his chest with his thumb, "Tiramisu." Before any questions could be asked about this 'queen', Blackmist cleared his throat and bellowed above the hubbub of the crowd.

"Now announcing, esteemed guests, Thistle, Foxglove and Tiramisu," he told the crowd at large. The assembled dinosaurs, all kinds of species from across the islands, not just the Euoplos and the Iguanadons, they could even recognise some familiar faces from the surface. Some of the partygoers waved at the new arrivals but most regarded them quietly and returned to their meal. Blackmist seemed pleased with this reaction and gestured for the raptors to take a place at the table. 

The table was full of fruits and vegetables, loaded heavily enough to almost seem comical. The food was laid out in fine splendor on a polished wooden tabletop that seemed to go on forever, cushioned by an off-white tablecloth that was trimmed with lace. There was a distinct lack of anything edible for a carnivore, so the raptors sat quietly on the ground at the foot of the table. They were too short to even reach it anyway, but the lack of anything meaty was enough to turn them away.

"Ah, sorry little ones, I didn't see you down there," a cheerful voice called from above them. "Let me scoot down here a moment." A soft brown Iguanodon with dark flecked feathers leaned down from the table and set two cloches on the grass under the table. She lifted the first cloche and it was piled high with cuts of marbled meat that instantly brought drool to the young raptors' mouths. 

"Wow! Thank you!" Foxglove said enthusiastically, still keeping her claws to herself for fear of looking like an uncouth dinner guest.

"Thank you for gracing us with your company," the Iggy said warmly, "My name is Sela, who are you three?" The raptors introduced themselves in turn and she nodded at each of them, removing the second cloche to reveal a large silvery fish with blue fins. "Well, it's an absolute delight to meet you, I hope everything at the feast is to your liking." She gestured to the table, "We have more meat up there, different kinds if this one isn't to your liking." Tiramisu picked up a cut of the meat and rolled it around in his claws suspiciously, holding it up to his snout and sniffing. Sela was busying herself with tidying away the wooden cloches and he cleared his throat loudly in her direction. 

"Where do you get the meat though," he asked bluntly, making her freeze. "Obviously you're growing plants down here but if it's only you, the Oviraptors and the Euoplos, where does the meat come from? Do you even need it?" Sela placed her forelegs back on the table and turned her head in his direction, though her eyes were still squeezed shut in a cheery smile.

"You're funny! Asking questions like that," she chirped sweetly but her smile was more akin to a clenched jaw. Tiramisu felt Thistle nudge him and he took the hint, not replying to the Iguanodon and placing the meat back onto the plate. He reached for the fish instead, almost entirely whole aside from the head, and clearly recognisable as some large ocean-dwelling fish. He had seen Aristos throw these from the water to stun them on the choppy surface, before reaching up and bringing it back down below the waves to enjoy it. The world under the water was so foreign to him, he could scarcely believe it sat on top of them.

"Let's try not to offend the giants that could flatten us in one step, yeah?" Thistle hissed at Tiramisu the second Sela was out of earshot, tending to other guests with her bright and rigidly polite voice.

"Yeah, sorry," he mumbled, "But I'm not gonna touch that meat, did you see the way she reacted?"

"I don't think you were wrong," Foxglove said, equally quiet, "We just shouldn't let her know that we think it's weird." The other two nodded, returning to their fish and trying to finish it quickly. The faster they ate, the quicker they could make excuses to leave.