It's A Sign!!!

Cinnamon shook dust from her feathers, a cloud of grayish brown against the vibrant greens and oranges of the nature around them. The biodome was difficult to explore, heavy and dense with vegetation. Humidity weighed down soft feathers with a thick dampness, the sensation was vaguely uncomfortable but not unbearable. No, unbearable would be the claustrophobic humidity that accompanied ventures through the jungle. The way the plants threatened to reach for her legs and the heat threatened to suffocate her, with little hope for relief. Another shake of the pelt to relieve the slowly building tension.

It was fine.

She was fine.

There was no anxiety building in her chest, threatening to escape in a very undignified sound. She was fine, Cinnamon assured herself. Entirely fine.

Her previous gifts had managed to impress the court, but it wasn’t enough. The outsiders as a collective would need more. The struggle came to, what do you give the court that has everything? They had tried fish and those had gotten a mildly intrigued reaction, but nothing really caught their attention. 

Currently Cinnamon was exploring one of the buildings which the iguanodons dared not yet to explore, but she was experienced in these places. The islands above were dotted with these abandoned urban areas, usually in more isolated locations. Isolation was good. It made her less anxious.

A soft rattle followed by a soft clank drew her attention down and to the side, from the doorway she could see a small figure toddling about. Blue-green feathers coated in a thick layer of dust and grime– she would definitely need a bath after that. Eira dragged something along the ancient linoleum flooring, squeaking in dismay when her prize would catch on every crack and crevice. In her dark colored beak was… Something large and a slightly faded shade of red. Cinnamon had seen items like this on the surface, she squinted at the dented and dinged surface. Studying the odd white scrawl across the front .A sign.

“Do you think they’ll like it?” Eira placed the item down with a metallic clank, looking up at Cinnamon in hopeful wonder. Cinnamon stared back at the oviraptor chick, anxiety welling in her chest. How was she supposed to assure Eira that their gifts would be accepted when she too was unsure.

However, she was spared the further turmoil when she heard the thumping of lumbering steps. For a moment, Cinnamon froze. Terrified that they were about to be discovered by some angry iguanodons- instead, she was greeted with a large white crest. This new parasaurolophus was larger than Cinnamon herself, her brown hide splotched with white. Piebald, Cinnamon thought.

Blue eyes locked on Cinnamon and she couldn’t help but shrink beneath the larger and older herbivore's gaze. The white splotched parasaurolophus dipped her head low to brush her crest along Eira’s back, causing the hatchling to chirp and coo affectionately. 

“Doe!” Eira cried in delight, “Do you think they’ll like this one?”

The new herbivore, Doe, examined the faded red sign. 

“I don’t see why not,” Doe rumbled sweetly, voice of honey and nectar, as she nuzzled the hatchling once again. Then her gaze lifted to look at Cinnamon. “What will you be bringing?” 

Cinnamon froze at the question, tucking the item further behind her hindlegs. As if trying to hide it from Doe’s soft blue gaze. However, Doe refused to take the hint and simply idly walked around Cinnamon to examine the chosen item. It was… A plate. The kind of plate that she had seen on the strange constructs on the islands above.

Flat and metallic, decorated with plants that seemed to be painted or carved into the old metal.

“Is that… A license plate?” Doe asked as she jabbed a hoof at the flat metallic item with a soft clink. Cinnamon stared at Doe in surprised awe, then embarrassment as she quickly looked down.

“...You know what it is?” Doe’s heart hurt with just how anxious the younger herbivore sounded. Her gaze softened and she stepped away to nuzzle into Cinnamon’s soft ginger feathers.

“I do. I've heard some older cows in my herd talk about them, apparently they're rather common above… But not so much down here.” Doe confirmed with a soft, impressed hum. “I'm impressed you found one, certainly that'll be able to impress The Court. At least partially. We can show it to the Primary Court first, they're more likely to be impressed with the shine it has.”

Cinnamon nodded along with Doe’s words, excitement beginning to brew in her gaze.

Good, Doe wasn't sure how much longer she could handle the poor dear things anxiety and stress. 

Satisfied Doe stepped away, gaze sweeping over the small abandoned building the pair had apparently been ransacking for items to offer the court. Her head dipped to look down at Eira, vibrant red sign balancing precariously between the ground and her blue-green claws. 

“Did you see anything else in there? Perhaps I should bring something to the court.” Doe rumbled sweetly to the chick, knowing that all three of them bringing something would give them better chances than if they were to only bring one or two items.

“I saw other things. Back there!” Eira squeaked excitedly, using her dark colored beak to point back towards the way she had come. It was a dark room with only a few threads of sunlight peeking from a hidden window. With a slow inhale, causing dust to tickle her lungs, Doe began the careful walk into the room. While she knew that there were no predators within the dome who would dare challenge her, it didn’t change the instinctive caution which had been bred in through generations of avoiding the predators which loomed above. The iguanodons knew nothing about avoiding the sharp eyes of a hungry predator, of fleeing a predator which wasn’t rooted to the ground. But Doe knew. She knew the dangers of the surface, and nothing would change the caution written into her genetics.

Eventually she reached the room. She expected the dented metallic walls and cracked linoleum flooring, what gave her pause was the odd object towards the center of the room. She remembered an older cow calling this… A bed. It was illuminated by the golden glow of the sun filtering in through the windows. Doe wondered how anyone managed to sleep on such a small thing… But that wasn’t what she was looking for. This ‘bed’ was far too small and bland to be of interest to the iguanodons. Her gaze swept down and around the room, ignoring the tentative footfalls of Cinnamon behind her, she looked. However there was nothing in plain sight.

Okay. Doe would have to get creative in her search. She was too large to fit herself under the bed, so instead she made her way to what she supposed was a closet. Dust covered her hooves as she reached inside, blindly flailing her hoof before deciding to bite the bullet and shove her house crested head into the door. She bumped things with her beaked face, feeling for anything of interest. Then eventually… Doe heard it.

A soft tink of metal. Cinnamon was behind her, trying to peer through the darkness and see what Doe had. But even Doe herself couldn't see it. Carefully, she gripped the metal in her mouth and dragged it out of the closet, wincing as it scraped along the flooring.

When she sat it down in the stray beams of sunlight, she was…. Confused. It was a sign, much like the one Eira had gathered. However instead of being almost entirely red, it was almost entirely white with some kind of red writing on it. It was also differently shaped.

Whoever had been here before had been… Quite the odd collector. However, perhaps these unorthodox offerings would work in their favor.

“Do you think these will be okay?” Eira’s voice was soft. Tentative. Nervous after several gifts which had been begrudgingly accepted by the court. She wanted this one to stick, to be truly liked… To be enough to give her the answers she wanted. But neither Doe nor Cinnamon could promise her what she wanted to hear. All Doe could do was lower her head and smooth Eira’s ruffled feathers with a gentle motion of her beak. Making a low rumble which echoed in her crest as she did so.

“I can't promise that they'll be impressed. But-” she paused and snorted to get Eira's attention as the chick deflated.

“They'll be stupid to not be impressed by your tenacity. You keep coming back, no matter how many times they reject you. You show spirit. It's the same spirit which the guardians saw, why they allowed you and Epoch to pass.” Doe continued, nuzzling her head against Eira’s small body.

Cinnamon watched. Seemingly entranced by the moment but… Not having anything to offer. All she could do was hope. Hope that for the sake of Eira, finally the iguanodons would be impressed. If not by their items than the determination to keep returning. Perhaps their perseverance in of

itself would be something to impress the court.