A Fragile Peace

Three dinosaurs followed Mantell as he entered the court’s primary building.  The smallest was a cryolophosaurus, brown with dark blue blanketing his back.  Shepherd’s yellow eyes glinted as he looked around, keenly observant.  The second was a suchomimus, mottled grey and crested.  Tempest’s gaze followed their guide instead, watching the green iguanodon navigate the building.  The last- and largest- was a tan and black therizinosaurus, ducking carefully through the entrance.  Instead of keeping an eye on their surroundings or their guide, Shiloh watched his companions, noticing their not-entirely-friendly interest.

Upon meeting the iguanodons, Shepherd and Tempest quickly decided these new “courtly” dinosaurs were entirely too pompous and overblown.  Shiloh was more neutral of opinion, but feared the two would get themselves into trouble if left unattended.  When he saw them volunteering for a tour of the court, he had quickly inserted himself as the third member.

While the iguanodons were still wary of their new guests, relations were going well enough that they were allowing some groups to visit the crown jewel of Atlantis and experience its wonders- under supervision of one of the courtesans, of course.  The trio had met with Mantell, a gruff and stately green iguanodon, and been led through meticulously maintained gardens on the way to their first destination.  The chaos of the jungle was entirely absent here, all of the plants neat and cared for instead of overgrown and thorny.  Shiloh gazed longingly at some of the greenery as they passed, its vibrant colors making his mouth water.  Tempest and Shepherd, being carnivores, were entirely unaffected, with Shepherd even wrinkling his nose at some of the more potent flowers.

Past the gardens were buildings, evidence of damage and careful repair marking their outsides.  Flowering vines wound about these, too, softening the transition between nature and manmade structure.  Mantell led them inside the largest, and the tour formally began.

While the space had been enlarged enough to fit iguanodons comfortably, Shiloh had to hold his long neck low in order to not brush the ceiling.  Shepherd immediately made to turn down a side passage, but Mantell stamped a foot and shouted, “Do not run off!”  As the cryo paused and looked back at him, he continued, “This tour is a privilege.  You void that privilege by trying to leave my sight.  If you wish to remain at our court, stay here.”  He looked down his snout at the smaller dinosaur, who sighed and returned to the group.  As soon as Mantell turned his back, however, Shepherd was copying the iguanodon’s stiff walk and pretending to scold Tempest the same way Mantell had.  Tempest had to hide her snout in her chest feathers to stifle a snort.

The building was admittedly quite grand, with skylights allowing light in and glimpses of the ocean beyond the dome.  Oviraptors scurried about with dusters made from their own feathers, keeping the place clean and tidy.  Mantell led them into a secondary hall, one that held display cases and pedestals behind decaying ropes.  When it was built, it was clearly meant to be a museum or historical area: faded murals of prehistoric plants covered the walls, and some intact cases still held fossilized imprints of leaves and flowers.  The iguanodons had modified it to their own desires, though.  Much of what used to be on display had been cleared out, replaced by objects the dinosaurs of the court considered beautiful.  Glass items, tapestries, colorful crystals, objects of polished metal- it was clear the iguanodons did not value history as much as they valued the shiny and the rare.

As soon as the group was fully inside, Mantell halted and turned to face them, drawing himself up importantly.  “This is the Hall of Wonders,” he announced, sweeping his tail to gesture at the many exhibits lining the walls.  “It contains artifacts of great importance to our people, objects of beauty, things that can be found nowhere else.  Take, for example, this glass vase,” he continued, stepping over to the first pedestal.  A spindly glass object rested atop it, blue and yellow swirling together across its translucent surface.  It was remarkably intact, without a chip or crack to be seen.  “It was found in one of the rooms here, on the second floor if you can believe it.  The effort required to get it here without breaking it was immense.  First, a team of oviraptors….” Mantell droned on, describing how the vase was moved to its current position, but Tempest and Shepherd were giving each other meaningful looks.  It was clear some kind of plan was forming between them.

Mantell didn’t notice, too focused on his lecture, but Shiloh saw the two of them glancing at each other and then at the vase.  Tempest shuffled a little closer to it, as if to get a closer look.  Shiloh opened his beak, but before he could think of something subtle to tell them off, Shepherd sneezed extremely violently, the sound echoing through the entire hall.  An oviraptor servant at the far end jumped, nearly knocking over the relic they were dusting.  Mantell halted midsentence, his gaze turning imperiously on Shepherd.  “Your manners,” he stated slowly and emphatically, “Are simply.  Atrocious.  Do you not know how to stifle a sneeze?  Don’t you know how rude it is to do that when others are speaking?  Don’t you-”

He was interrupted again, this time by the sound of glass shattering.  Mantell immediately whipped around to see Tempest standing innocently next to the now empty pedestal, the blue and yellow glass of the vase scattered across the floor.  “Oops,” she said.  “I’m very clumsy.”

The iguanodon visibly puffed up with rage, taking two quick steps toward Tempest before Shiloh put out one long-clawed hand to stop him.  “I’m sure it was an accident,” he hurried to say.  It was not- he had watched in horror as Tempest very deliberately swiped the vase onto the ground- but Mantell didn’t need to know that.  “Suchomimus have such long snouts, it can be hard to look at things without bumping into them!” he continued.

Tempest rolled her eyes, but Mantell seemed somewhat pacified.  He sniffed.  “Outrageously long,” he commented, glaring at Tempest.  “If you cannot look at things without damaging them, I expect you to stay in the back.”  He looked at Shiloh.  “Keep an eye on her.  You’re the only one with an ounce of manners, here,” he added.  Shiloh nodded seriously, but he doubted he could keep either Tempest or Shepherd in check if they were intent on causing trouble.

“I’m very sorry about the vase,” Tempest said, her voice heavy with false contriteness.  “Can we continue the tour?  I promise I’ll be more careful.”

“It’s so cool here!” Shepherd piped up.  “I want to see even more cool stuff!”

Mantell’s expression remained stormy, but the two carnivore’s attempts at sucking up seemed to be working, because he sighed and turned back toward the entrance of the hall.  “Fine.  Let’s move on to an area that’s a bit less fragile, though, shall we?”  Shepherd and Tempest grinned, while Shiloh shook his head.