Reluctant Farmers

Kaiwi did his best to hide his sidelong glances at the Styra waiting next to him, but he couldn't imagine he was being too subtle. He was convinced he knew her from somewhere, though perhaps it was the uncanny likeness to Zeus, dimorph and all, that was throwing him off. He was standing in line with her, awaiting further instructions from an Iguanodon before being allowed to proceed with the planting of the islands. Though it was under less than ideal circumstances, the raptor was still itching to get above ground again, to feel the breeze in his feathers and bask in the real sunlight after so long trapped down here. The mystery of the Styra next to him still prickled at his mind, however, and he kept sending looks her way.

"Can I help you?" the Styra asked coolly, finally having enough of his darting eyes.

"I feel like I know you from somewhere," Kaiwi admitted, seeing no point in hiding it now she had broached the topic first, "Do you come around the Dead City very often?" Dacia winced internally, horrified that her reputation had spread so far even if the raptor was having difficulty placing her.

"You might be thinking of my father, Zeus," she answered smoothly, "He's everywhere. Besides, I come from Isla Pera so I doubt you would've seen me around." To her dismay, the raptor didn't seem convinced, still considering her with his head tilted slightly to the side.

"No, I know Zeus, it's not him I'm thinking of," he said confidently, "It's definitely you. I've been to Pera a few times, maybe I've seen you there?" Doubtful, Dacia thought, considering the cult was based almost entirely on Isla Kela and rarely traveled to the other island. Thankfully, his detective work was interrupted by the arrival of a large female Iguanodon into the clearing.

"Hello there!" Soraya greeted the dinosaurs waiting in line, "I'm Soraya and we'll be doing a short lesson on caring for the plants of Atlantis before we go above ground and start planting them!" Her tone was relentlessly cheerful, like this gardening lesson was something she had been looking forward to her whole life. The Iggy had a dark topline but the rest of her markings faded out along her body like a sky at sunset, patches of merle providing grey and darker clouds to the scene. Her quills bristled to attention as she looked over the two standing in front of her, and she began to cast her gaze around the clearing. "I believe we're missing someone, aren't we?"

“...”

As if summoned by the mention of her Brambles came storming over, being guided rather sternly by another iggy. As she joined the row of dinosaurs lined up in front of Soraya she scrunched up her face. What an odd group, she’d be stuck with them for at least the day which was not something she was chuffed about. Catching a glimpse from the smaller utah she curled her lips into a subtle snarl, warning the smaller theropod that she was not in the mood to make friends. She wasn’t here by choice and honestly blamed her sister for the whole scenario. If she hadn't slipped away in that jungle perhaps she wouldn’t have to partake in this nonsense. 

Soraya looked down at the foul tempered cryo, her gaze stern but joyful attitude did not waver. “Alright that's everyone, let’s go plant some seeds!” There was an unwelcome enthusiasm to her tone that Brambles did not appreciate, if it wasn’t for the larger size of the iggys and the large amount of guards she would have slung some insults toward the joyful creature, instead she pouted trailing behind the group as the four of them began to make their way toward the surface. She was eager to feel the breeze and the full sun again, the inside of the dome provided a manufactured experience compared to the top side, it was fake, synthetic and not to her liking. 

The other two in the work troop seemed to get the memo that Brambles had no interest in interacting with them, her disapproval of the utah had not gone unnoticed by the sty and while the two of them could easily over power her if the situation turned sour, she didn’t much care. Thinking only of how dead Powder would be when she eventually caught up to her, at the very thought of Powder, Brambles curled her lips again. The sty shot a glance over to the moody creature confused why she held onto so much rage but perhaps it wasn’t something she should ask. 

As they emerged onto the surface through the entrance to Atlantis, Brambles’s mood softened slightly. The full sun seemed to warm her soul somewhat and she took a deep calming breath of the fresh air. She was still irritated by having to partake in this chore but less so now she was back where she belonged on the surface and not inside that damn dome. 

“...”

“Now,” Soraya said brightly, enjoying the atmosphere as much as the natives did. “I fear this sand won’t be conducive to our goals, let's climb onto some more solid ground and get planting.” Kaiwi followed the cheerful iggy up the sand dunes, his arms full of digging implements. At the very least he was glad he wouldn’t have to till the entire island with his bare claws. He was doing his best to avoid eye contact with both of his fellow hostages, the Styra was on edge now after his questioning and the Cryo looked ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation. Despite his dislike of all things Atlantean, he found himself sticking closest to Soraya, her cheerful personality providing a welcome respite.

Dacia struggled up the sand, not used to the way the grains would shift under her feet. She had a bag of seeds strapped to her back and would’ve been indignant if not for the fact that Soraya was carrying one too. The Cryo was giving her the creeps and the raptor was making her paranoid, but at the very least she took comfort in knowing the Atlanteans would fail. After all, her visions told her the world would end in a blaze of fire, not smothered under the weight of alien plants. Once the sand turned to soil she stopped, waiting for the Iggy to start directing their gardening. 

“Will we just start planting anywhere?” she asked, eager to shrug the bag from her back. Soraya looked unsure for a moment, looking around at their surroundings.

“Yes, I suppose this is as good a place to start as any,” she finally said decisively. Kaiwi undid the straps that kept the seed bags on the herbivores’ backs and stood back to avoid being flattened by them. He grabbed the smallest implement he could find and began whacking at the soil the way Soraya had demonstrated before they had left Atlantis.

Dacia couldn’t hold any of the instruments Kaiwi had carried to the surface and relied instead on her horn to gouge a starting hole in the ground before dropping a seed into it and kicking dirt over it. It was a sloppy job but Soraya didn’t seem to notice her, pouring her attention into the singular seed she had planted so far. She noticed with interest that the raptor was no longer eyeing her up, instead he was scanning the horizon, like he was looking for something. She supposed it was a good time for someone to make a break for it, only one Iggy guard and she was distracted. Despite him nearly sussing out her identity, Dacia found herself rooting for his escape. 

“…” 

Brambles watched the other three as they worked to plant the seeds, it wasn’t until Soraya cast her a warning glance that she finally picked up a trowel and started to dig at the ground, she purposefully positioned herself away from the others focusing on digging a straight trench around three foot long, then she did the same beside it and so on until she had created a well plowed plot, ready for the seeds to be sown. Without speaking she walked over to Dacia’s seed bag, snatching up a handful which she carefully dropped into the trenches, equally distanced. Not because she cared for the work she was doing but because she couldn’t stand doing anything untidily. 

Soraya looked over at the neat layout of Brambles’s plots then to the roughly laid out placement of the others seed placements. She was impressed, despite the poor attitude of the pale cryo she did put her back into the work no matter how little she wanted to do it. Satisfied with the work completed, Soraya permitted the trio to rest, she wasn’t sure if she would put them back to work but she was happy with what they had done thus far.