[WoT: Currying Favour] Mistaken pursuit to New friends

“Oh great ghosts of Atlantis!”

 

A hurried frightened voice screeched through the once calm and serene jungle area, prelude to the sudden cacophony as bushes rustled violently before parting as a slate grey feathered form burst through its verdant leaves.

 

Bright aqua eyes flickered every which way as quick feet ate up the ground. Antheia heaved great huge lungfuls as she continued sprinting away from the distant and yet loud footfalls that pursued her

 

Oh just to think she’d already had a harrowing ordeal within the strange lands of black stone and now here she was, finally in a place of respite where she had been planning to hunker down for the night before continuing on with her queens orders - only to find herself disturbing a colossus of golden scales and teeth much to sharp for her liking (good lords of Atlantis but those teeth were nearly the size of her entire crest!)

 

Not that it said much, it seemed, even outside Atlantis everything towered over her and her kind.

 

She could feel the earth shaking as the behemoth behind her closed in, each massive stride a match to several of her quick spring steps

 

Oh this wasn’t a good situation, oh no not at all!

 

She tried to sprint faster but truly she couldn’t, her lean frame and quick feet were slowed immensely by thick foliage around her, one misstep and she’d go sprawling - meanwhile her pursuer could just bulldoze through anything, unfair!

 

It was while she was inwardly cursing this that the exact fate she dreaded happened upon her and the Oviraptor went sprawling face first into a collection of vines that quickly caught her up

 

Oh this was so embarrassing! Thank goodness none of her fellows were here to see such a silly mistake - she would never live it down!

 

Of course that was the least of her worries as her pursuer finally caught up with her.

 

Antheia shrieked in fear, wriggling uselessly in the vines and babbling for all she was worth, eyes screwed shut tightly “w-wait! Please stranger don’t eat me! I’m barely a mouthful! I’m all lean and gamey! I’m not worth the meal Honest! Oh please let me go! Mercy stranger! Mercy!” Her pleadings continued on in the same manner until

 

“Are you done?”

 

The voice that asked the question was arch and bone dry as the desert, with a hint of annoyance.

 

Well, unexpected

 

Antheia peeled one eye open, the behemoth of an albertosaur stared down at her with golden eyes, an annoyed huff of warm breath rattled from its nostrils

 

“I’ve been trying to talk to you for hours now, but you kept running off” was the puzzling follow up, ah, the great beast wasn’t trying to eat her? Antheia blinked, confused

 

“Well why the relentless chasing?”

 

“Why the relentless running?” Was the equally somewhat amused retort “it wasn’t like I was going to get my answers if I let you get away flighty one” and the elaboration which, okay made sense, she guessed

 

“I’ve been seeing more like you around while I travel, I got curious what you were doing - especially with all the strange plants that appeared at the same time” the stranger rumbled and before Antheia could say much more, the golden Albertosaur snapped her teeth forward towards the vines and with one bite, Antheia was free of her unintentional trap.

 

The Oviraptor squawked in alarm as the sudden slackening of vines left her in an undignified heap upon the jungle floor, taking a moment to untangle herself and shake the vines away, her feathers fluffed at the motion before she settled back on her haunches to look up at the stranger.

 

Said stranger snorted down at her before circling back the way she came and then gesturing with her head “cmon, you must be hungry after all that running stranger and if I wanted my answers I shoudl at least give you something in return no?”

 

Well, Antheia couldn’t disagree with that, the Oviraptor clucked and stood shakily, her tired legs did ache quite a bit after - what was now in hindsight - a useless chase.

 

It seemed her new - friend? - gathered the same for with a rattling sigh, the albertosaurus stooped down “climb on, you look like your legs will give out at any moment flighty”

 

“thank you- ah, that is, my name is Antheia, not flighty” she clicked raising one claw to point this out primly.

 

“Well, good to put a name to a face - likewise, Cassandra, a pleasure - now lets go little Antheia, I want to know what your story is - and I’ve a fresh kill waiting back at my current den we can share”

 

“That does sound delightful” Antheia murmured as she scrambled up Cassandra's golden hide, carefully balancing herself out to sit comfortably on the large theropod's back - to wit Cassandra craned her head to the side, appraising her passenger before nodding and with a roll of her shoulders the unlikley duo were off on their way back through the half trampled jungle that Cassandra had torn through after the flighty raptor.

the sounds of the mabient junglescape crept back in as they made good headway through the foliage, Antheia craning her neck around to get a good luck at the surroundings she hadn't really paid attention to before - ahead of them loomed a frankly ginormous tree, one which even Atlantis would have been proud to boast of growing she thought, below in its gnarled roots was a big enough hollow to fit both of them where the smell of recent fresh meat emanated from, so this was Cassandra's current abode? it did look quite cozy

"alright little friend, here we are" said giant rumbled, craning down so Antheia could step lightly back onto ground as the two shuffled under and into the hollow - and nay a moment too soon as the rumbling of thunder above signalled an imminent downpour to which Cassandra hummed "you can rest here with me tonight as well, the storms here don't abate until well into the late morning hours"

Antheia's feathers fluffed and she danced on her feet a tad nervously "I wouldn't want to impose on your hospitality" she began uncertainly but Cassandra only snorted "wouldn't be no trouble" so Antheia dropped the issue and settled down as Cassandra circled once to drag the fresh prey towards her to share "here" and Antheia clicked her beak gratefully and dug in - truly she hadn't eaten in awhile, not since running from those strange black lands full of even stranger saurians and then her mistaken flight from Cassandra, well she was famished.

She ate quickly and quietly with Cassandra, both listening as the rain fell in first patters and then a thundering cascade - the two settling in for the long haul when she finally spoke up "well, I suppose I should tell you my story now"