[Gift] We Don't Negotiate with Terrorists

                For the last few weeks Maybelle had been staying with the Ashwalkers. She’d taken to going out and seeing the islands for herself, wanting to broaden her knowledge of the territories and the dinosaurs that lived all over. But with the recent happenings of Atlantians coming up from the ocean bio-dome and planting their seeds all over the islands, Maybelle had thought it wise to avoid the heavy vegetation areas.

                The ashlands were a good place to stay for that single cause. Plants found it hard to grow in such soil. The earth was too dry, too dusty and loose. The plants that could grow in such a landscape were hardy, and they certainly looked like it as well. It had taken May some time to get used to what could and couldn’t be eaten, and where exactly to look for food.

                The Ashwlkers were, to most, a difficult group for one reason or another. But May enjoyed them. They were a serious bunch, but they had to be in order to survive in the ashlands. They were quick to judge and quicker to act, and they had a complete intolerance towards carnivores. Some weren’t very chatty in general. Maybelle enjoyed all of those traits, they reminded her of her old herd to some degree. Every person was unique, and all had potential to become a friend of hers.

                It was that dedication to knowing and understanding everyone in the herd that had brought May to spend the day with Hekla. The Sty had vision issues and surprises were not acceptable around her. Maybelle wasn’t entirely sure how bad the other female’s eyesight was, but she thought it wouldn’t be polite to ask. So she simply went along with how others had acted around the woman, which was slower, calm, movements and being loud enough when you approached that Hekla could tell who you were just from how you walked.

                With the herd settled for the day in a small field of dried grass, May lay off at the edge of the herd with the red and black Sytra. The cow was lazily chewing on a mouthful of the grass they lay in while May carefully picked at some of the greener blades that she could find.

                “You’ll lose too much weight and grow weak if you continue to nitpick your food.” Hekla stated, not looking over at the Parasaur that had decided to attach herself to her for the day.

                Maybelle sighed, not a heavy sound, but loud enough that Hekla knew the Parasaur could see the logic in what she had said. She turned her head to reply to Hekla but stopped when she saw the outline of two large dinosaurs on a hill that overlooked the valley the herd was in.

                As Maybelle slowly stood up, Hekla turned her attention quickly to where the Parasaur had been looking and got to her feet as well. As she swallowed the mouthful of grass she’d been chewing, Hekla tried to make out any details she could. But from the distance the two dinosaurs were, they were nothing more then large blobs. Acro sized large blobs.

                The deep bugle of a warning call from Hekla was all that was needed to get the rest of the herd to its feet. Maybelle glanced over as she heard running through the herd and after a moment Greylander made his way to stand with Hekla and May.

                “Hold, Hekla.” The man said, his attention fully on the Iguanodons that were making their way down towards the herd with a small following of oviraptors behind them.

                Hekla had readied herself when Greylander told her to wait. She’d tensed, ready to charge ahead at the Acrocanthosaurs that were walking towards them. Or what she thought were Acro’s walking towards them.

                “Since when do we negotiate with carnivores.” Hekla snapped, tossing her head to the side and gave another warning call to the group of dinosaurs walking towards them, demanding for them to stop.

                “They’re not? They’re…” Maybelle started to say, narrowing her eyes to try and figure out what exactly the two Iguanodons were. She knew the Oviraptors, she’d seen them running around the islands with their seeds.

                “Atlanteans.” Greylander replied, the quills on his back standing on end. Maybelle glanced over at him, uneasy with the sight, knowing he was taking issue with them for some reason. Though, to be fair, she was taking issue with them as well. Something wasn’t right about them, or how they were walking so calmly towards the herd.

                “Hail!” The cream colored Iguanodon called as he got closer. May tilted her head a bit, now able to see the patterns clearly. The male that spoke was a striking creature, with blue lacing on his body and vivid orange spots on his face, gold colored stripes on his belly and neck made her think of necklaces. The other with him appeared female, no dimorphic patterning to be seen on her body. She was striking to look at, with yellow tabby swirls and dark red blotches on her stomach and dotting her hide.

                “Stop there. Do you not hear the call to stop from my herdmate?” Greylander called, taking a step forward from the herd and turned his head to the side to get a better look at the two Iguanodons.

                “We heard, but what good would stopping so far back do if you cannot hear us well enough to hold a conversation?” Pyre asked, raising her voice so she could be heard over the small distance between the two groups. The Oviraptors with her and Kell stopping behind the pair, all holding what appeared to be various foods as well as bags of items. Among the bags, Maybelle could see pouches of seeds, overflowing and threatening to spill out with any quick movements.

                “State your business, then. What do you want to converse about.” Greylander asked. The whole situation didn’t feel right. Even Hekla was still on edge, still had her head down and was ready to charge at the group.

                “We bring gifts to you and your herd. Our Queen has sent us out to the islands, help the islanders and prepare them for her arrival. To ensure they swear fealty to her.” Pyre replied, lifting a massive spiked hand to motion towards the Oviraptors. But it was an unneeded gesture.

                Greylander just snorted. He’d heard everything he needed to when she brought up their Atlantean queen. The reports he’d been hearing about the supposed ruler of these dinosaurs was disgusting. What had happened down in the bio-dome had been horrific, if the stories were true.

                “We’re not interested in gifts from a tyrant. Take them and leave.” The man called, making the pair of Iguanodons look between each other.

                Greylander glanced over at Hekla as Kell opened his mouth to speak, the single snort was all the cow and the rest of the herd needed from their leader.

                Hekla charged, running ahead at the two large herbivores and their servants. Right behind her was the rest of the herd, running forward with their heads down and horns primed to pierce flesh. Maybelle did her best to move out of their way, running to the side of the herd but still ran with them as they charged the Atlanteans down.

                Kell and Pyre didn’t stick around. They quickly turned and ran, Hekla getting close enough to Pyre that she was able to toss her head into the side of Pyre’s tail and throw her off balance. The Ovirators scrambled to get out of the way, some dropping their goods as they fled alongside their masters. One managed to get in the way of Maybelle, and while she was not out to hurt the small creature, she was quick to donkey-kick him a good distance away where he could quickly get back up and start running again.

                “You will kneel before your queen whether you want to or not! We will be back!” Pyre screamed back at the Styra herd as she and Kell grew the distance between the two groups. Greylander just snorted in amusement as well as annoyance with how quickly the pair of invaders had been driven off. Some part of him had wanted a fight, and he knew for a fact that Hekla would’ve enjoyed one as well.

                The herd came to a stop at the top of the ridge where the Atlanteans had come from, lining up to watch as the pair and their servants ran and continued to run until they were lost from view over another ridgeline.