Stories For The Court

The gold tokens glimmered in the dappled sunlight, Eira sniffed them cautiously. Examining the items with great attention, deft claws carefully plucking out any of the coins which had been dented or rusted. It was disappointing really, most of the coins here and Doe had managed to find were damaged and unlikely to impress the elegant iguanodons. Feathers fluffed and smoothed as Eira lifted another coin in her beak, tossing it to the side with a loud metallic tink.

The sound of lumbering steps caused her to look up from her task, finding Doe standing before her. In her mouth Doe held something shimmering and white- a string of pearls! Squeaking in excitement Eira scrambled up and eagerly jumped around the large piebald parasaurolophus. Doe huffed out through her nose as she dropped the pearls to the meager pile of glimmering gold, shaking her large body to try and rid herself of the curling plants which had accumulated during her search for anything of value. The dense, dangerous jungle posed a big challenge when trying to gather materials to impress the intimidating court.

“This was all I could find.” Doe rumbled as her head lowered, affectionately brushing her crest against Eira’s fluffed feathers. Trying to soothe the poor stressed Oviraptor chick.
A chick shouldn’t have to feel such stress, but they needed further passage into Atlantis. Especially if they were going to find Eira’s parents.

Eira hopped away from Doe on shaking, oversized legs, down covered wings flapping anxiously as she bent to examine the small collection. A handful of shimmering gold tokens, a string of pearls and- two egg shell pieces.

Doe squinted at the egg shells.Tilting her large head as she lowered her head further to sniff the shells… They smelled like Eira.
“Eira, chickpea- I don’t think the iguanodons will want pieces of you and your brother’s egg shells.” As she spoke Doe scraped her bill over the tiny chick’s back. Smoothing feathers and trying to soothe the faint trembles that carried through her body.

“B-but-! Maybe they’ll want things with- with-value as well as physical, I already checked the rest of the things in the hoard! They’re in good condition-” Tears welled in those golden eyes, wings beat at the air in upset frustration.
An incoming tantrum. Doe hummed, a low sound which resonated in the air around them. Snapping Eira out of the panicked spiral which would have quickly become a big fuzzy tantrum.

“Okay, okay- We’ll try. We’ll try. But, Eira, I cannot guarantee that they will accept or like the shell pieces. Okay?” Head low, Doe looked down into the large gold eyes and green tinted feathers that formed Eira’s face.

A sniff and a shaking nod, “Okay.” Eira nuzzled against Doe’s oversized cheek, wiping away the few tears away on her thick hide. With the chick soothed and the tantrum averted, Doe lifted her head up to the sky or- what would have been the sky if not for the dome. Outside the dome she could see faint, barely concealed shapes of the creatures of the ocean. Creatures the dinosaurs within the dome had likely never had the chance to see clearly. Creatures which held rich and vibrant stories-
Wait.
That was it.
Something sentimental… Doe’s eyes flew to the egg shell before she looked down to Eira.

“Oh Eira, you little genius!! You had the right idea! They have so many things of physical value, so we’ll give them something more!” Stories and ideas rushed through her head, stories which had been whispered through the forest by passing herds and long gone kin.

“We’ll tell them stories. We’ll paint pictures of the world above which they have never seen! We’ll show them what they’ve never seen. They have musicians and jesters, but those routines have likely long gone stale. So we’ll give them something fresh, something new-” excitement thrummed Doe like a heartbeat as she looked down at the various items they had gathered. Each could be used as a prop or made into one-

“Eira, gather these into a bag. And grab any sticks or wood you can find, I’ll collect leaves and vines. We’ll offer them the service of stories, and we’ll tell them the best stories that they’ve ever heard.” She snorted in excitement as Eira bounced along with her. Eagerly collecting the items into the simple cloth bag they had discovered during their rummaging through the abandoned maintenance buildings which dotted Atlantis. Doe trotted off back towards the jungle, the only one of them large enough to somewhat safely pass through without risk of being snatched up by some wild carnivorous plants.This left Eira alone to carefully pluck sticks from the ground and return to the gathering site, where she shoved the various sticks and wood fragments into the bulging pouch. Stories! The answer had been right there in front of them! How had they missed it?
It was so obvious…
Eira stilled for a moment, smiling up at the roof of the protective dome high above them. Surely these stories would be enough to impress the courtly dinosaurs… It wasn’t like they had many other options.
She hoped Doe was right.

When Doe returned the two set to work, tying gold coins together using vines and wrapping those around the sticks. Then around the coins and vines they ever so carefully wrapped the shimmering pearls, creating an odd banner which could be carried around in Eira’s mouth to enhance the more… Whimsical parts of the stories they wished to tell. They worked from dusk to dawn to ensure that their craftsmen ship, and their stories, would be suitable for the court.
In the end the two had thought of several stories, one would focus on the utahraptors which would commonly roam above ground. The other had been a suggestion from Doe, the only one of them old enough to witness it, the opening of the Alpha Labs and the terrors which had lurked in the dark.